Recently, Shanghai Jiao Tong University received a letter of thanks from the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United Kingdom. The letter congratulated the university’s Cultural Creativity Institute for the successful hosting of the "Future View: Sino-British Youth Digital Creativity Exhibition" in London in September. It also expressed gratitude for Shanghai Jiao Tong University's efforts in public diplomacy through the exhibition and wished for even greater success for the "Future View" international platform for the global expansion of Chinese digital culture in the future.
On September 6, the launch ceremony of the "Future View: Sino-British Youth Digital Creative Cultural Exchange and International Exhibition" project was held at the former Royal Mint Court in central London. The event was organized by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University - University of Southern California Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries, co-organized by Brunel University’s Design School, and hosted by People’s Daily UK. Professor Liu Weidong, Vice President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Professor Trevor Hoey, Vice President of Brunel University, and Counsellor Li Liyuan and Counsellor Xia Yuzhi from the Chinese Embassy in the UK, along with Paula Callus, Chair of the Tower Hamlets Borough Council and Director of the UK National Centre for Computer Animation, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the "Future View: Sino-British Youth Digital Creativity Exhibition."
As the only official partner event of the "2024 London Design Festival" hosted by a Chinese university, the exhibition was officially open to the public from September 14 to 17. It aimed to encourage Chinese and British youth to use creative technology to empower a better world. The exhibition featured over thirty works, covering technologies such as virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) generation, data visualization, encrypted calligraphy, and digital art installations. The themes included traditional Chinese culture, environmental protection and sustainable development, music, art, education, and an intelligent future.
The activities were diverse, with a wide reach, and received widespread acclaim.
As mentioned in the thank-you letter, "During the exhibition, a variety of themed activities were held, attracting audiences from various groups including universities, the digital industry, media, cultural arts, students, community residents, and the general public, all of whom praised the events."
On the preview day, the exhibition organized a digital culture exchange event for young people in London, inviting both local Chinese and foreign youth engaged in cultural exchange between China and the UK to share the creative experiences of the exhibition's creators and the curatorial intent. The young people present were moved by the historical background of the former Royal Mint, feeling delighted to see youthful digital creativity within a landmark historical building in London. They expressed hope that this location would become a hub for cultural exchange and cooperation between China and the UK, and that young digital creators from both countries could contribute to the protection and preservation of the city’s cultural heritage through digital creativity.
On Community Day, the exhibition opened its doors to local residents, sparking widespread interest and enthusiasm among them. Elderly individuals and children became the main attendees. Among the younger audience, there were also professionals from the computer animation industry, who expressed great enjoyment of the exhibition, noting that this area had not seen such a high-quality and engaging exhibition in years. Local viewers showed keen interest in the backgrounds of the creators; a middle-aged couple was particularly pleased to see an author from Poland, as her sister lives in the same city, Krakow. They were surprised and excited to learn that the exhibition would be held in Shanghai next year, where British young digital creative works would also be showcased.
On Young Digital Creators Day, the exhibition collaborated with Brunel University, the Shanghai Digital Cultural and Metaverse Industry Alliance, and the Brand Going Global Working Committee of the China Advertisers Association to hold the "Sino-British Youth Digital Creative Industry-University Exchange Conference." This event connected creators from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Macau, and Poland with local digital entrepreneurs and artists in the UK present at the exhibition site, allowing them to share their understanding of the theme "Future View" and analyze trends in the future development of the digital creative industry. Each participant expressed a strong desire to enhance Sino-British exchanges and cooperation in the digital creative industry.
The Mid-Autumn Festival day also marked the closing of the exhibition. During the closing ceremony, a digital ambiance filled the venue with traditional Chinese music, and every digital artwork was adorned with Mid-Autumn lanterns. When a symbolic offering of 100 mooncakes was presented to the audience, it instantly ignited excitement throughout the venue. Everyone looked forward to meeting again in the realm of digital creativity and wished for the cooperation and mutual development of Chinese and British youth in the field of digital creativity.
Innovative in Form, Rich in Content, and Far-Reaching in Intent
A letter of thanks from the Chinese Embassy in the UK mentioned that "the exhibition is innovative in form, rich in content, and far-reaching in intent. It showcases the ingenuity of Chinese and British youth in integrating digital technology with daily life and cultural arts, reflecting the contemporary youth's spirit of striving for a better life and looking towards the future. It has built a platform for communication and collaboration between technology, industry, and the public. The exhibits deeply integrate elements of traditional Chinese culture, vividly interpreting the new developments in China's digital technology and helping the local British population understand a real and multidimensional China."
This exhibition features over 30 works, all created by the Gen Z youth from China and the UK, including individuals and digital creative enterprises. Despite their different locations for study, work, or residence, the creators of Gen Z share a common characteristic: they increasingly focus on the deep integration of technology and their cultural backgrounds, presenting a new digital cultural landscape where culture and technology are fully intertwined.
One of the featured works, "Ice•Fire" by Dr. Zhao Yanxiu from Macau, combines ink painting with environmental concepts. Through the splashing of digital ink and the gradient of warm and cool colors, it showcases the process of glacial melting, ringing alarm bells for the world while demonstrating the vibrant life force of traditional Chinese ink painting in the digital age. Creator WIESLAW BORKOWSKI JR. from Poland reinterprets a prophetic painting from the Yuan Dynasty using data encoding methods. By adding a cryptographic calligraphic signature, the work of the traditional Chinese artist is resurrected and preserved with the support of blockchain technology. "Ink Realm: Mortise and Tenon" is a VR immersive 3D puzzle experience themed around ancient-style ink painting and mortise and tenon woodworking culture, created by a team from Goldsmiths, University of London. Players experience the assembly of traditional mortise and tenon structural wooden objects through their hands in a virtual landscape, feeling the craftsmanship rich in Eastern cultural implications.
Gen Z's extreme pursuit of technology and their keen interest in the superb fusion of technology and art transcend regional differences, igniting sparks of digital culture on the same display stage.
The interactive installation titled "Prologue" is the work that captivated viewers the longest. It generates over 16 different forms of jellyfish through code, continuously changing shape according to the movements of the visitors, with each form corresponding to the expressions of openness, acceptance, and warmth conveyed by the visitors. The work employs the aesthetic effects of traditional Chinese painting while achieving breakthroughs in the three-dimensional rendering of ink, sparking heated discussions among professionals. Pierre Engelhard, a young lecturer from Brunel University’s Design School, presented an interactive installation that redefines the keyboard. The keys of the new keyboard are replaced by abstract shapes; letters do not appear in a linear arrangement but are displayed in circular patterns, accompanied by unique sounds. This design encourages people to break free from the constraints of traditional text structures and reassess the existence and significance of everyday objects in the digital age. The exhibition piece "Digital Museum of Chinese Ceramic Art" by the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute and Zhongsheng Technology showcases self-developed ultra-high precision digital collection and generation technology, integrating traditional ceramic craftsmanship with modern digital technology to produce three-dimensional 14K resolution and two-dimensional tens of billions of pixel-level digital results, allowing audiences to immerse themselves in the collision of ancient skills and modern technology.
The exhibition is guided by digital creativity, aiming to encourage digital creators to pay more attention to the application needs of social innovation. Chinese and British creators demonstrate great resonance in this regard, engaging in dialogues of application innovation through their respective ideas.
The "Yi" series of digital artworks by the Ai Ling Studio team, studying future design in London, envisions a landscape of future Yi culture, exploring future Yi culture from the perspectives of life experiences, wisdom, language, and symbols, as well as worldviews. It examines the authenticity of Yi culture in the context of the digital age, proposing the concept of "Aura" and hoping to spread Chinese Yi culture through digital means. The immersive VR exhibition "Museum of Chinese Musical Instruments" by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music allows visitors to experience the beautiful world of Chinese musical instruments from various eras and genres in a virtual hall meticulously constructed using cutting-edge game engines. It represents a revolutionary attempt at music education, using VR technology to build bridges and promote the integration and mutual learning of world music cultures. "Infinite Dreams," created by the local digital creative company Hirsch & Mann, is an innovative generative installation in the Regent Street shopping mall in London, transforming consumers’ movement data on escalators into instantaneous ripples on an LED giant screen, making consumers a part of the digital art and redefining the shopping experience while breaking cultural boundaries in the future retail industry.
"Ice • Fire"
Digital Ink Generation Image
"Legend"
Data-encoded Chinese Painting
"Ink Realm: Mortise and Tenon"
VR Immersive 3D Puzzle Art
"Prologue"
Encoded Interactive Installation
Typoglyphs
Visual Interactive Installation
"Jingdezhen: Digital Porcelain Rhythm"
Cultural Heritage Digitization Technology
"Yi Series: Future Landscape"
Fictional Cultural Imagery
"Virtual Museum of Musical Instruments"
VR Visual Project
"Infinite Dreams"
Innovative Generative Device
Connecting China and the UK, Bridging Two Cities, and Promoting Long-Term Exchange and Co-Creation
The exhibition "Future Vision: Digital Creative Cultural Exchange and International Exhibition for Chinese and British Youth" is supported by Shanghai's "Going Global with Chinese Culture" initiative. Therefore, the exhibition not only focuses on the exchange and cooperation between China and the UK in the field of digital creative industries but also undertakes the mission of contributing to the friendship between the two countries and promoting exchanges between Shanghai and London. The thank-you letter specifically mentions that the curator and team "actively promote the friendly exchanges between China and the UK, as well as Shanghai and London, using the exhibition to tell stories of mutual learning and win-win cooperation from multiple perspectives."
In the exhibition's foyer, there is a unique data programming art piece titled "Digital Conjecture Garden: From Shanghai to London." The creative team, based in Guangzhou, has long been dedicated to collecting data from landscape photographs to generate various digital flowers that are unique, found nowhere in nature, and cannot be replicated in the digital world. When the curator learned about the team's creative capabilities, they discussed creating a themed piece that would connect Shanghai and London. The exhibition venue, located in the former Royal Mint of the UK, is situated by the Thames River in the Tower Bridge area of London. It was once the political and economic center of the British monarchy and is now a historical cultural site in London. Coincidentally, the Shanghai Mint, built in 1920 by a British architectural team, is also located by the Suzhou River, Shanghai's "mother river." In the future, it will be transformed into a public mint museum and a creative industry cluster area through a new round of urban renewal. The two cities have formed a new connection due to their industrial cultural heritage, inspiring creators with new digital ideas. The artwork re-collects and transforms image data from both minting facilities, generating two digital floral images that reflect the texture of Western oil paintings and traditional Chinese ink paintings. When visitors learn about the creative process and the industrial cultural heritage linking the two cities, they express their amazement at the wonderful digital connection between Shanghai and London.
Digital Floral Conjectures — From Shanghai to London
Data Transformation Images
The creators’ dedication resonates with the visitors. Zhang Taiqiang, principal of the London Yuhua Chinese School, expressed that the works of these young artists showcase what the future holds, emphasizing that the Chinese school must keep pace with the digital age. Antonio Queiros, an industrial design professional, along with his colleagues, discovered this exhibition from China while participating in an associated event during the London Design Festival. They specifically came to see the exhibition, feeling a sense of the future within it, as they witnessed upcoming technologies and changes. Emma, an executive in charge of international advertising at a local agency, noted that clients often seek to delve into the Chinese market and hope to leverage digital creative means for communication. She found pathways and talent for accessing the Chinese market at the exhibition. Paulina L., director of the Polish Cultural Centre in London, was delighted to see young Chinese creators reinterpret traditional Chinese culture through digital means. She believes that cross-cultural communication requires finding common ground, and the shared interest in future technologies and the passion for exploring the future can quickly resonate with each other. Everyone shares a common wish to strengthen the digital cultural exchange between China and the UK, continuing the digital connection between the two cities of Shanghai and London.
In response, Shanghai Jiao Tong University is well-prepared. At the launch ceremony on September 6, Vice President Professor Liu Weidong stated that the London exhibition of "Future View — UK-China Youth Digital Creative Exhibition" is just the beginning. Moving forward, themed co-creation, mutual exhibitions, industry-academia discussions, and talent exchanges will be continuously held in both London and Shanghai, aiming to establish a long-term platform for gathering UK-China youth digital creative talent and co-creating digital culture. He hopes that young people from both countries will enhance exchanges, continuously innovate, and contribute to the global digital economy development and digital civilization exchange. Echoing this sentiment, at the closing ceremony, project initiator and chief curator Wang Haoqing announced that, as a transnational exhibition, while the 2024 London exhibition of "Future View — UK-China Youth Digital Creative Exhibition" is concluding, preparations for the 2025 Shanghai exhibition will commence, inviting works from UK digital creative youth to be showcased in Shanghai. Various exchange and co-creation activities in the field of digital creativity between China and the UK will continue. After receiving a letter of thanks from the Chinese Embassy in the UK, Zhang Weimin, dean of the Cultural and Creative Institute, expressed gratitude for the trust and support from the embassy, assuring that the institute will continue to implement its teaching and development philosophy of "internationalization, interdisciplinary, and industry-oriented." Through the "Future View" international platform, the institute aims to consistently support the international expansion of Chinese digital culture and promote exchanges and co-creation between Chinese and foreign youth in digital culture.
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