From April 15th to 21st, Hainan Normal University’s School of Fine Arts presented the exhibition “Brilliant Intangible Cultural Heritage, Heritage in the Modern Era”, which focused on the protection and innovative designs of Hainan’s outstanding traditional intangible cultural heritage at the China Week main venue of Milan International Design Week, held at the Steam Factory exhibition area.
This design exhibition explored Li brocade culture in depth, incorporating innovative fashion elements to showcase the modern vitality of traditional cultural arts. The designs took into account the needs of daily life as well as the tourism market, ensuring that the Li brocade culture could be better preserved, protected, permeated, and developed. The visual identity of Hainan’s local brands was enhanced, allowing Li brocade to shine with contemporary brilliance and ensuring the longevity of the intangible cultural heritage, while highlighting the beauty of millennia-old culture on the global stage. Additionally, this event promoted fruitful outcomes in brand design, lifestyle, urban renewal, and academic exchanges between universities in both China and Italy.
In recent years, the School of Fine Arts has positively explored and developed distinctive approaches to traditional cultural arts and the protection of Hainan’s regional intangible heritage. These efforts have injected fresh momentum into the innovative field of Hainan’s traditional cultural arts and intangible heritage design, expanding the practical application value of art and design education achievements. The works in this exhibition represent part of the achievements of the Design Discipline School of Fine Arts, Hainan Normal University, the Ministry of Education’s Base for the Inheritance of Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture (Li brocade), and the project established by the Hainan Provincial Department of Tourism and Culture to build and operate a platform for Li brocade designers as well as design services. A total of 45 designs were exhibited, including 15 in the clothing series, 20 in the cultural and creative series, and 10 in the scarf series.
It is reported that this year's Milan International Design Week’s China Week invited 12 cities and 65 brands to participate, organizing more than 165 professional forums, lectures, cooperation accords, city visitexchanges, design experiences, and workshops. The event took place at three major venues: FDV Steam Factory, ADI Design Museum, and Zona Sarpi Design District, attracting over 80,000 visitors.
