Creative Mission in China

The delegation will be in China from 20 through 30 March 2016. The focus of this journey undertaken by DutchCulture China-experts Monique Knapen, Ian Yang and director Cees de Graaff is to strengthen Chinese-Dutch ties in the worlds of fashion and the creative industry.

Holland House in Xiamen
In Xiamen, DutchCulture will set up contacts between the Dutch Embassy, Netherlands-based Chinese businessman Tao Wang, initiator of the still-to-be-built Holland House, and Chen Wei, founder of C-platform, a breeding ground for creativity. The idea behind the Holland House is to provide an inspiring overview of contemporary Dutch art and culture. The C-platform team consists of a number of curators who took part of their art training in the Netherlands. Together, Holland House and C-platform could stimulate a lasting cultural exchange between China and the Netherlands.

The future of fashion (and designers) in Shenzhen
On 26 March, The Future of Fashion is Now opens in Shenzhen. From October through February, this exhibition by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen was in Shanghai, where it drew large crowds. Five young Chinese designers were given the chance to make new work for this second Chinese edition of The Future of Fashion is Now in Shenzhen. The Shenzhen Art & Design Alliance asked DutchCulture to bring a delegation from the Netherlands in order to offer more opportunities to Dutch designers and to stimulate collaboration between Dutch and Chinese creative study programmes. In other activities surrounding the opening, international designers will meet during a fashion forum, while workshops and lectures will be held at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is collaborating with curator José Teunissen to give courses on treating textile and making exhibitions about textile.

Dutch artists in Wuzhen
On 27 March, the International Contemporary Art Exhibition is opening in Wuzhen, a new cultural hotspot in Shanghai where Toneelgroep Amsterdam staged its production La Voix Humaine last year. DutchCulture brought the exhibition’s curators in contact with Dutch artists John Körmeling and Florentijn Hofman and the designers from Studio Job. These artists will be showing work at the International Contemporary Art Exhibition. Hofman is already world-famous in China by now because of his outsized installation Rubber Duck that has been shown in various places in China. In Wuzhen, Hofman will present his king-sized fish.