SHENZEN'S DESIGN IN BERN, SWITZERLAND

Shenzhen International Culture Week & Promotion of CityPlus Platform was held at the Convention Center in Bern, Switzerland. Guests there were attracted by the clothes made of gambiered Guangdong silk with skills originating from ancient silk production in the east, the design products from Shenzhen such as jewelries with cross-cultural features, and the routes well-designed for newcomers to Shenzhen to experience the city. With a variety of exhibits and presentations, Shenzhen showcased its innovation and dynamism to its sister city Bern for deepening cooperation and communication.

At the event, gambiered Guangdong silk, a traditional clothing material from the east, was unveiled through pieces of clothes designs from Liangzi Fashion company, showing vividly the charm of Shenzhen’s innovation and design. The company also presented in photos the procedure of traditional gambiered silk making, the integration of traditional culture and innovative designs, and its environmental-friendly designing philosophy.

Zhou Liu Fu, a Shenzhen-based jewelry company, exhibited multi-themed products featured with such Chinese cultural elements as lotus and Beijing opera, together with exquisite processing techniques, which are great symbols of the uniqueness and excelling jewel crafting of Shenzhen’s design.

Attendees from Switzerland were interested in the works of Shenzhen companies, and had in-depth exchange with them. Christoph Ammann, the vice governor of Bern, said that closer and friendly exchanges between Shenzhen and Bern are expected in all aspects like economy, science and technology and culture, etc. as the former being a modernized and globalized metropolis full of charm, impetus, dynamism and innovation.

The two cities officially became sister cities in Feb. 2015. Going forward, Shenzhen hopes tighten its connections with Bern for win-win development. “Friends from Switzerland, especially from Bern, are welcomed to Shenzhen, for investment, work, travel or settling in”, said Li Xiaogan, president of Shenzhen Association for International Culture Exchanges, “deeper cooperation between the two is anticipated in talent cultivation, fashion design, culture and tourism in ways to advance mutual benefits”.

Shenzhen, the first “City of Design” accredited by UNESCO in China, has founded the Shenzhen Design Award for Young Talents, which collects works of young designers from the member cities of global creative cities network, and encourages and supports the growth and development of young designers around the world.

At the promotion event, Shenzhen International Exchange Fund demonstrated, through a short video promoting the City Plus platform, Shenzhen’s iconic cultural landmarks and buildings, as well as makers from all over the world putting their ideas into works in different creative spaces and fields there. The platform is dedicated to introduce Shenzhen to the world through interactive and experiential measures. At the same time, Shenzhen announced the “In Shenzhen · Cultural and Creative Routes” at the event, inviting foreigners and its own citizens to explore Shenzhen in the form of orienteering, so that participants can get the first-hand experience of the innovative and vibrant city.

There are about 13,000 design institutes in Shenzhen, accounting for a large market share in China in the fields of graphic design, industrial design, interior design and fashion design. In recent years, Shenzhen has been strengthening its exchange and integration with international cultural and creative industries, by encouraging its design companies and designers to reach out and actively participate in international activities and attracting foreign top design institutions and designers to develop in Shenzhen. Shenzhen is also committed to holding influential international design events to promote its status in the international design community, provide development opportunities for international designers and expand market space.