Chongqing City of Design Attracts Global Designers | Italian Masters Sign Deals on Inspiration Tour

In early May, the first Global Creative Design Masters Chongqing Tour was held. Seven international design masters from Italy gathered in Chongqing, the Mountain City, to exchange with young artists from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, representatives of intangible cultural heritage, and cultural creative designers. They also embarked on an in-depth exploration and creative learning journey to districts and counties including Jiangjin, Dazu, Rongchang, Yongchuan, and Yunyang.

Over the course of approximately one week, these international design masters promoted the collision and integration of international creative concepts and Chongqing’s local culture in in-depth communication and co-creation, and signed cooperation agreements with multiple institutions, showcasing Chongqing’s urban beauty, design excellence, and cultural richness to the world.

A Two-Way Exchange: Culture “Going Global” and Design “Being Brought In”

At the end of 2023, Chongqing acquired a world-class title—UNESCO City of Design—becoming the first City of Design in Western China.

The City of Design is one of the seven theme honorary titles awarded by the by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) to “Creative Cities”, and it is also the most influential city honor in the global design field. This title signifies that Chongqing is at the forefront globally in providing cultural opportunities and leveraging creativity to promote urban development and resilience.

This also forms the broader context for the “Creating Visions · Global Creative Design Masters Chongqing Tour” event.

Chongqing is a city of mountains and rivers, bearing the profound weight of Bayu culture and the vitality of a modern metropolis; Italy, the cradle of the Renaissance, excels at using design as a language, blending aesthetics and functionality.

“Although separated by great distance, the two places have consistently used design as a bond to write chapters of cross-cultural cooperation,” said a relevant responsible person from the Chongqing Municipal Committee Propaganda Department. Since the first Italian Global Design Day settled in Chongqing in 2019, Chinese and Italian design elites have gradually formed a deep linkage. For example, the integration of Chongqing Changan with Italian automotive design, and the cross-border dialogue between the famous Italian design company Pininfarina and Chongqing Architectural Design Institute all prove that design can become a common language to solve industrial upgrading and promote sustainable development.

Now, Chongqing, as a UNESCO City of Design, is empowering the manufacturing industry through design and accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system.

The inaugural Chongqing Tour for Global Master Designers, under the theme “‘Creating’ Visions of the World,” promoted a two-way exchange of cultural industries “going global” and creative design “being brought in,” achieving cross-border integration from concept to practice, and pushing cooperation to new heights.

“The Inspiration I Got is as Numerous as the Hands of the Thousand-Handed Bodhisattva”

Upon arriving in Chongqing, the international master designers visited the Chongqing Industrial Design City.

“Features like the rail transit passing through buildings, the Yangtze River Cableway, and the forest of skyscrapers influence Chongqing’s design style,” praised Antonella Chiachi, Chairman of the Italian VISIVA branding design studio. She noted that Chongqing’s industrial design products are very warm, possessing a deep insight into daily life scenes and a profound care for citizens’ visual and life experiences.

During their stay in Chongqing, 7 international design masters immersed themselves in Rongchang pottery culture, Jiangjin jade culture, Dazu Rock Carvings culture, Yongchuan tea culture, and Yunyang Tujia culture…… everything amazed them.

In Rongchang, Nicola Boccini, a professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Perugia, and Maria Iole Cirelli, an Italian creative design master, visited places like Wanling Ancient Town and Grass Linen Town. They experienced making Rongchang pottery firsthand while earnestly learning about the customs and stories behind the tradition of breaking bowls. Nicola Boccini said, “It might be a good idea to put Italian wine directly into such pottery jars.”

In Jiangjin, Lorenzo Areso Daidà, an Italian cross-disciplinary artist, visited cultural centers and museums, watched traditional craft demonstrations, enjoyed tea, appreciated paintings, and personally experienced cultural projects like paper-cutting. He highly praised the traditional craftsmanship of Jiangjin Rice Candy (Mihuatang), calling it a “living treasure” of Eastern wisdom.

In Dazu, Carlo Pizzichini, a painting professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, was deeply captivated by the exquisite Dazu Rock Carvings: “Seeing such grand rock carvings up close today was a huge impact for me. The inspiration I got from them is as numerous as the hands of the Thousand-Handed Bodhisattva.”

In the Yongchuan Tea Mountains and Bamboo Sea, Giuseppe Vaccaj, Art Director of the Italian Cartoni Associați brand design studio, said, “I didn’t know before that you could see the tea leaves while drinking tea; it’s very interesting. Drinking tea can also bring a lot of inspiration for my design. I really want to bring this tea culture and novel lifestyle back to Italy.”

“Chongqing Inspiration” Series May Debut on International Platforms

“Cooperation” became a high-frequency word mentioned by both sides during this international master designers’ visit to Chongqing.

On May 11, Dazu High-tech Zone signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Italian School of Design. Benedetta Risolo, partner and head of overseas at the Italian Institute of Design, said that he hopes that this agreement can have a greater impact on the future and looks forward to more similar cross-border exchanges and cooperation in the future.

On May 13th, at the “Creating Visions · Global Cultural Masters Jiangjin Tour” joint creation cooperation signing ceremony, Lorenzo Areso Daidà signed agreements with Chongqing Jiangjin Jade Culture Industry Company and Chongqing Hehua Rice Candy (Group) Company. He stated that in the future, he would work with Wu Di, representative inheritor of the Jiangjin Jade intangible cultural heritage, to co-design works incorporating characteristic Bayu cultural elements, aiming to make Jiangjin Jade and Jiangjin Rice Candy shine internationally.

On May 14th, at the “Creating Visions · Yongchuan Cultural Creative Design Seminar,” the Italian Cartoni Associați brand design studio signed a cooperation agreement with Chongqing Chashan Zhuhai Tourism Development Co., Ltd., committing to help Yongchuan cultural creative products reach the world stage.

On May 15, the Yunyang County Geopark Management Affairs Center signed an intentional cooperation framework agreement with the Italian VISIVA brand design studio. Antonella Jiaqi believes that transforming Yunyang’s characteristic cultural elements, including geological textures, colors and other natural elements, into design language and applying them to the development of cultural and creative products can inject cultural connotations into daily necessities such as home furnishings and accessories.

“In the future, we could also combine Yunyang’s dinosaur elements and traditional pasta-making skills with Italian woodcraft to develop crossover products and promote their appearance at international platforms like Milan Design Week,” Antonella Chiachi added. She also stated she would provide guidance on brand image design and market positioning for the “Yunyang UNESCO Global Geopark,” helping to enhance its international brand influence.

This year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy. Chongqing is striving to promote Bayu culture “going global” and creative design “being brought in,” continuously polishing this precious “name card” of “UNESCO City of Design” to better leverage its role.

The next step for Chongqing involves collaborating with international design masters to create a “Chongqing Inspiration” series of works and actively promoting the appearance of related achievements on top international platforms like Milan Design Week and the Venice Biennale in the future.

Data Insight: Chongqing as a “UNESCO City of Design”

At present, Chongqing boasts over 300 design-related industrial parks, innovation hubs, and incubators, more than 50,000 design enterprises, and a workforce exceeding 500,000 people. The total output value of the city’s cultural, creative, and design service industries surpasses 200 billion yuan.

Source: Chongqing Daily | Reporter: He Qingyu | Photo: Visual Chongqing
Cover image: On May 9, creative design masters from Italy visited and exchanged ideas in Chongqing Industrial Design Industry City.
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