Artistic hubs nurture the business of culture
Print Edition
From small roots, big trees grow. And it’s a bit like that, too, when trying to cultivate creative arts from small endeavors into thriving businesses.
Zhang Ping, a craftsman in the ancient Chinese art of root carving, knows all about that. His Beiqiao Root Carving City, founded two years ago, is the kind of creative hub that Zhuanqiao Town in the Minhang District is trying to nurture as part of a transition from heavy to light industry.
“This is different from the usual marketplace where people go to buy home decorations,” Zhang said of his artistic center. “We are selling art as a luxury collector’s item for the Chinese people.”
The creative arts in China are flourishing, thanks in part to cultural parks created by local governments. These hubs bring together the talents of individual artists and designers with the financing of businessmen betting on the growth of “big trees.”
“In China there are old warehouses, factories and even streets that can be converted into creative hubs,” said Luo Wei, director of the Creative Industry Office in Zhuanqiao. “But we all know that the most important commodity is always people — creative people who can push this business forward and to make culture blossom.”
Culture blossoms
Beiqiao Root Carving City covers almost 30,000 square meters, comprises about 60 companies and studios and proudly calls itself the biggest marketplace of its kind in East China. More than 100,000 root-carving works are on display there, ranging in price from 20 yuan (US$3.26) to several million yuan.
Root carving embodies a tradition centuries old. Gnarled old tree roots are transformed into works of art by precision hands that know how to use the roots to their best advantage.
Zhang hails from Fujian Province, one of the birthplaces of root carving in China. He came to Minhang in 2006 and opened a shop of root carving in the Jiuxing Building Materials Market. But that venue proved unsuitable for a serious artist who wanted to elevate his craft above humdrum household knick-knacks.
Root carving masters are spread across China. Many don’t live near either the source of good roots nor major markets like Shanghai to sell them. Many craftsmen are old and can’t go foraging through forests to dig out the roots themselves, Zhang said.
“What we would like to do is gather them together through an online platform,” he said. “The masters can guide workers on how to dig out tree roots professionally, and then they can design artistic pieces from them. Compared with this huge potential network, our market here will just be a small showroom.”
To encourage the growth of this “showroom,” Zhang leased space, rent-free for the first year, to more than 50 shops.
“We have supported Zhang in his efforts, assisting him with financing and personnel resources,” said director Luo. “When the hub completes the online platform, it will be a perfect combination of technology and culture.”
Zhuanqiao is now home to more than 200 companies involved with advertising and design work. Two companies are adopting a strategy similar to Zhang’s by establishing online platforms where artists can design and create, using resources provided by the companies.
Gaocheng Art Pack Co on Guanghua Road is among the most successful creative companies in Minhang. It initially started as a printing company but has expanded into package design for big clients like distillers Moutai and Wuliangye.
Their designs, mostly liquor bottles, were displayed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and at the World Expo Shanghai 2010.
Life art design
“We want to become a life art design company,” said Cai Shishan, founder and chief executive of Gaocheng. “Our products include plates, bottles, cups and other household goods. They are all artistic and stylish.”
The company now employs about 1,000 designers and plans to move to a bigger, 170,000-square-meter site on Xiangyang Road when construction work is completed in 2015.
The company also plans an online platform offering participation to designers from all over the world. Once a design is submitted and accepted, the company will turn it into product.
“This will be good collaboration between traditional industry and the creative industry,” said Luo. “When talking about the creative cultural industry, many people seem to focus more on ‘industry’ than on ‘creative.’ The establishment of creative hubs wouldn’t be possible without designers and artists.”
The government is also planning to turn Guanghua Road, Gaocheng’s current site and a former chemical industry base, into another creative hub in Zhuanqiao, according to Luo.
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