China Art Palace · 中华艺术宫
The 4th Shanghai Art & Design Exhibition · Shanghai Art Museum of
Preface
Guided by the Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee, jointly organised by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and the Office of the Leading Group for the Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries of Shanghai, and co-organised by the Shanghai Designers Association, the Shanghai Artists' Association, and the Shanghai Museum of Art, the "4th Art and Design Exhibition" aims to be rooted in the rich soil of China's outstanding traditional culture, gather global creative design wisdom, explore the contemporary value of art and design through innovation while preserving cultural heritage, inject vibrant cultural momentum into Shanghai's status as a "City of Design" and its endeavour to build a "Science and Technology Innovation Center”.
Under the theme "Revealing Future," the exhibition highlighted three guiding principles during the call-for-entries phase: demonstrating cultural confidence by drawing inspiration from China's excellent traditional culture and Shanghai's distinctive revolutionary culture, to shape a design language with Chinese characteristics and Shanghai's unique flavour; practicing the "People's City" concept by focusing on urban regeneration, public services, and daily life, ensuring design genuinely serves to improve the quality of life for the people. It promotes cross-disciplinary integration by encouraging new technologies such as artificial intelligence to explore innovative forms and business models at the intersection of art, design, and technology. Following extensive mobilisation, over 1,300 pieces of work were submitted. After multiple rounds of selection, 426 pieces were chosen for the exhibition, along with 12 pieces/groups specially invited by the curators. The selected works are ultimately divided into two main sections—Art and Design, present across seven thematic areas: Art, Clothing, Food, Housing, Transportation, Entertainment, and International Invitationals, displayed in 339 combinations. This structure makes the exhibition not only a creative event but also a significant practice through which Shanghai showcases its cultural soft power, gathers talent, and ignites innovative vitality.
The curatorial concept of this exhibition deeply aligns with Shanghai's identity as an international metropolis. Through the lens of contemporary visual art, it reveals the people's aspirations for a better life, interprets the innovative expression of excellent traditional culture, and presents the contemporary allure of Eastern aesthetics within the context of global civilisational exchange and mutual learning. The immersive exhibition design and cross-disciplinary presentation methods allow the audience to cultivate cultural confidence amidst the interplay of light and shadow, internalise core values embedded in the design works, and experience the principle of "the city is built by the people, and the city is built for the people." This approach promotes the rooting and flourishing of cultural thought on both sides of the Huangpu River.
Design serves as an engine for industrial upgrading, and innovation is the core code for development. In the 15 years since Shanghai was designated a UNESCO "City of Design," the scale of its creative and design industries has surpassed 1.6 trillion yuan, becoming a crucial growth pole for high-quality economic development. Therefore, this exhibition also focuses on industry highlights and industrial demands, building a bridge connecting academia with industry and creativity with the market. The exhibited works span diverse fields such as intelligent design, green design, and digital design. They include masterpieces empowering national strategic projects, creative expressions of cutting-edge technologies like new energy vehicles and humanoid robots, and popular cultural and creative products resonating with national trends. These works visually present the latest practical achievements of Shanghai's Science and Technology Innovation Centre development. Through activities like exhibitions, industry matchmaking, and talent exchanges, the exhibition aims to facilitate the transformation and application of design outcomes, assisting key industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence in enhancing quality and efficiency, thereby highlighting the core value of design in empowering the real economy.
Art has no boundaries; creativity is limitless. We firmly believe that this exhibition will further activate the city's innovative genes, build consensus for the industry's development, and establish creative design as a distinct marker of Shanghai's cultural construction. We hope every visitor can experience the beauty of design, the power of culture, and the charm of the era in this creative feast, allowing the flowers of creativity to bloom in every corner of the city, the cultural vein to nourish the soul, and jointly write a new chapter in the flourishing cultural scene of Shanghai.
-The Organising Committee of the 4th Shanghai Art and Design Exhibition, January 2026
Guidance Unit
Publicity Department of the Shanghai Municipal Committee
Organizers
Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles
Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism
Shanghai Municipal Education Commission
Office of the Leading Group for the Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries of Shanghai
Co-organizers
Shanghai Designers Association
Shanghai Artists' Association
Shanghai Museum of Art
THE UNNAMED WORLD 1
Toria Ya Tuo · 托雅
50*50cm | Cotton Yarn | 2023
The "Revealing Future" Academic Conference and the "Shanghai Design 10×10" International Design Forum Roundtable were held in the afternoon. This conference was jointly planned by the Shanghai Artists and Designers Association, Shanghai Artists Association, Shanghai Art Museum, and Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, bringing together leading figures, scholars, and institutional representatives from the design world both domestically and internationally to explore the future path and social value of art and design in the intelligent era. The exhibition organisers, in collaboration with the World Design Organisation (WDO), the Lahti International Poster Triennial in Finland, the Brno International Graphic Design Biennial in the Czech Republic, the Seoul Design Foundation, the Golden Bee International Graphic Design Biennial in Russia, the Hong Kong Design Centre, the Macau Design Centre, and other renowned domestic and international design institutions, along with representatives from relevant national art academies, delivered speeches on site. Together, they proposed new theories and ideas on "enhancing life with creativity and empowering development through design.”
Revealing Future
— The 4th Shanghai Art and Design Exhibition, Andi Fan
Design serves as both an intrinsic driving force behind a city's development and an intuitive expression of its cultural spirit. The light of creativity steadfastly adheres to a people-centred creative direction. The exhibition focuses on "Design Leading a Creative Life," advocating for design to integrate into daily life and serve the broader public. From large-scale public art installations to two-dimensional urban visual systems, from the essentials of daily living to future scenarios, art and design enhance the quality of life in subtle ways, strengthening residents' cultural identity and sense of well-being.
This light of creativity fosters a deep integration of art, design, and technology. Against the backdrop of technological revolution and industrial transformation, the exhibition showcases the combination of China's cutting-edge AI technology with diverse traditional crafts, as well as explorations into sustainable green materials and innovative forms. It channels the energy of design not only into aesthetic expression but also into promoting industrial upgrading and advancing sustainable urban development.
The creativity embodies the preservation and innovation of civilisation. The exhibition delves deeply into the essence of China's outstanding traditional culture, revolutionary culture, and Shanghai-style culture, promoting its creative transformation and innovative development. Examples include integrating traditional embroidery into modern life and digitally regenerating intangible cultural heritage crafts, demonstrating the continuity and breakthroughs of traditional culture in contemporary design.
To gather talent and ignite innovative vitality, the exhibition establishes a platform for exchange among domestic and international designers, artists, and young creators, promoting collaborative development across industry, academia, and research. The participation of young talents injects new momentum into Shanghai's ambition to become a world-class global city and cultivates emerging forces for the development of Chinese arts and culture.
Each piece presented in this exhibition is both a microcosm of Shanghai's design practices and a visual exploration of future developmental directions. We believe that design can drive cultural progress, enhance urban functions, and improve people's lives. May this exhibition serve as a beacon, illuminating the path of symbiosis between creativity and the city, witnessing Shanghai's solid strides in building itself into an international metropolis. It also reflects how Chinese design, with its unique wisdom and warmth, infuses global design development with Eastern aesthetic inspiration and adds a Chinese hue to the tapestry of human civilisation in this era.