Disruption, Innovation and Fusion: An Interview With Adrian Cheng
Adrian Cheng, a young Chinese cultural entrepreneur, perfectly blends East and West: Adrian Cheng was born in China, attended Harvard, and is under 40 years old (born in 1979.)
Adrian Cheng is the grandson and designated heir of one of Hong Kong's and China's most powerful economic families, and Adrian Cheng stands to inherit a substantial portion of the family's empire, which includes the Chow Tai Fook jewelry chain and the New World Development Company, among other businesses. The family owns businesses with a combined market worth of $25 billion.
However, his interests and aspirations appear to be far broader and more varied than simply administering an empire founded by his forefathers. Hi passions include the arts, as well as the creation of a new, young Chinese cultural identity, partly through the K11 Art Malls. These are carefully designed exhibition spaces for emerging Chinese artists. The Art Malls are places where viewers and tourists may see modern art while also learning more about the context, subtext, and significance of today's complicated societal issues.
Both the Hong Kong and Shanghai flagship K11 Art Malls opened in December 2009 and June 2013, respectively. By 2023, a total of 24 K11 projects will be built in cities across China, including Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenyang, Wuhan, Tianjin, Ningbo, and beyond, offering a new retail experience for everyone, as well as art and culture.
Adrian Cheng also formed and serves as Honorary Chairman of the K11 Art Foundation, China's first non-profit and non-state-owned art foundation dedicated to nurturing and promoting young, rising modern Chinese artists and public art education. For regional and worldwide art projects, KAF has formed agreements with a number of art institutions. The Fundació Gala-Salvador Dal in Figueres, Spain; Serpentine Galleries and Institute of Contemporary Arts in London; Centre Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, and Musée Marmottan Monet in Paris; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Armory Show, New Museum, and MoMA PS1 in New York; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Armory Show, New Museum, and MoMA PS1 in New York
Adrian Cheng represents the new, young Chinese cultural identity in all of his works, introducing new ways of viewing and experiencing the fusions of art, commerce, and culture.
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Adrian Cheng: Cross-pollination of creative talent and disciplines is still a priority. But I'm also interested in developing my artistic vision, which I call The Artisanal Movement. It incorporates all aspects of fashion, art, and design into lifestyles, homes, and exhibitions. What this encourages, and what my team and I do in all of our projects, is to gather, connect, and collide - whether it's ideas, customs, people, or creative expressions.
For example, the purpose of our recent Get A Life! Exhibition, which we partnered on with the renowned fashion designer, was to generate cross-cultural art, design, and eco-sensitive conversations. With her crew, Dame Vivienne Westwood.
Adrian Cheng: We started talking about how we could use fashion and design to highlight environmental and sustainability issues, as well as how we could start a cross-cultural discourse in China. This was also around the time I opened the Shanghai K11 Art Mall, which houses our 3000sqm K11 Art Museum, so I thought, why not create an exhibition that uses art and fashion as a compelling magnet to inspire people to talk more about the interconnected relationships between fashion, art, and the world we live in?
Adrian Cheng: Fusion, disruption, and evolution are all present in our vision. These days, young Chinese consumers want more than simply products; they want culture, stories, and depth as well. K11 was founded as a hybrid place for commerce and art. This has worked out well. Three new K11 Art Malls are set to open in 2017 — in Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Shenyang – expanding the possibilities for presenting cross-cultural exhibitions.
Adrian Cheng: In April 2017, I launched Wander From Within, a brand-new furniture design show at the Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, which coincided with the annual Milan Design Week. I had the privilege of co-designing the collection with Shigeru Uchida, a renowned Japanese master designer. The Khora collection consists of three handcrafted seatings and is Uchida-final san's collection before his death in November 2016. This show in Milan is also a celebration of Uchida-extraordinary san's career.
The implications of traditional Japanese tea culture are inferred by the philosophy behind these furnishings, which finds serenity in the act of sitting, as the mind focuses on the light and shadows of its immediate surrounds.
Adrian Cheng: Following Wander from Within's great debut in Milan, I'm excited to bring my first furniture collection to Seoul and on a world tour. We are expressing the power and importance of furniture, as well as the essence of Asian sensibilities, with this collection, notably in the simple act of sitting down.
The designs depict the intricacy and mystery of Japanese furniture composition as well as the human-nature link.
