Beijing Design Week Soft-Opens in Caochangdi

Beijing Design Week (BJDW) got underway in the Caochangdi Art District (CCD) Saturday, with a lot of noise and dust, but with many exhibitions already completed and open to the public.

"It's performance art!" said Naihan Li, one of the organizers BJDW in CCD, of the continuing construction of the area's main stage and other features. Li was particularly proud of the speakers that will be used in the central performance area, most of which utilize porcelain shells.

However, some designers and artists had finished set-up and were already receiving visitors. Among them were Nick Bonner of Koryo Studios and Dominic Johnson Hill of Plastered 8 T-Shirts, who were displaying paintings of "The Beautiful Future." This exhibition features works by North Korean artists, who were asked to depict their vision of Beijing in the future, using the socialist art style. The result is a unique collection of images, of a Beijing imagined by painters who have only seen it in photographs, a look at a Beijing with rocket ships, portrayed as if done in the 1960s.

In an enjoining room, Matt Hope's Breathing Bike sits, although it was idle on the relatively clean and clear Saturday.

BJDW in CCD is clearly not just about design. Max Levy was setting up a temporary outlet of his 798 eatery Traitor Zhou's Kaifeng Non-Kosher Delicatessen, and Vivienne Li, whose homemade gelato Vivi Dolce was featured in our August issue, was arguing with workers about how to hang her signs. Looked like Li was going to have 10 or 12 different kinds of her handmade creation on offer.

BJDW opens official on September 26, and runs through October 3, at CCD and venues throughout the city. See our Events section for more information.