-- Introduction --
From September 12th to 27th, in the name of the city, Dongguan held the "Art of Manufacturing: Towards the Manufacturing Aesthetic City of Dongguan" series of art exhibitions at Beijing Chuangshi Langyuan Station E4 space. It was very interesting! It is highly recommended to visit and appreciate it in person!
Poster Creativity | Based on the reputation of Dongguan as a "world factory", the main image of the exhibition uses a barcode made in Dongguan. The area code and postal code of Dongguan are ingeniously integrated into the barcode.
NO.1
In the name of art, infuse cultural elements into the "Dongguan Manufacturing Aesthetics"
As the first city in the country to propose the construction of a "City of Manufacturing Aesthetics", Dongguan is constantly exploring new paths for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry, promoting the simultaneous advancement of technological innovation and cultural innovation. Guided by the Industrial Culture Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China Industrial Photographers Association, and hosted by the Publicity Department of the Dongguan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports, and the Guangdong Photographers Association, the Dongguan Cultural Center has created "Manufacturing Art: The "Leading to Dongguan, the City of Manufacturing Aesthetics" series exhibition has chosen the first stop at the Station E4 space of Beijing Shouchuang Langyuan, and the exhibition will last until September 27th.
This exhibition brought together a total of 35 artists from China, South Korea, Germany and the UK. It visited 21 representative manufacturing enterprises in Dongguan, adopting the models of collaborative creation among the four parties, opening mystery boxes, and on-site collaborative creation. Over an eight-month period, 29 groups and hundreds of contemporary artworks were successfully exhibited, transforming the industrial scene in Dongguan into a perceptible artistic scene.
NO.2
The breakout experiment of B2B brands: When cutting-edge equipment meets contemporary art
As a typical B2B enterprise specializing in high-end logistics equipment manufacturing, Shunli Intelligent, following the "Manufacturing Aesthetics Workshop Concert: Trendy Dongguan · Matchbox", has once again established a connection with Dongguan's manufacturing aesthetics. With local enterprises from Dongguan participating in the creation, the equipment manufacturing workshop and the three-dimensional warehouse were opened up. Chinese, British and German artists conducted on-site research and collected industrial soundscapes materials, bringing the orderliness beauty of intelligent logistics equipment to the capital and reaching out to the public. Through practical results, a question was answered: How can the brand core of 21 years be newly interpreted in a non-commercialized dissemination form?
1. As a new form of productive force, it has been heard.
"Creation comes first, then comes manufacturing" and "Reusing noise waste materials", this is the definition given by Colin Siyuan CHINNEREY, the co-founder of the Sound Art Museum and an English artist. He broke away from engineering parameters and mechanical order, observing from an artistic perspective. He extracted the real production operation sounds of Shunli Logistics Warehouse Robots, such as their rapid movement, lifting and direction change in the miniload three-dimensional warehouse and the four-way shuttle car dense warehouse, and combined them to create a more pleasant, smoother and more fluid modern industrial sound, completely overturning the traditional noisy impression of industry.
Colin Siyuan CHINNEREY
2. Perceived as an enterprise culture
German artist Thomas KELLNER walked into Shunli Intelligent, using a humanistic lens to bring together the diverse appearances of different positions and styles. Through their simple and dedicated working attitude, he showcased the team's values of "pragmatism, collaboration, and responsibility". Then, by presenting the development process step by step and level by level, he reflected the company's transformation from a "single shelf manufacturer" to a "provider of intelligent logistics full-stack solutions and core equipment manufacturer". We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the influence of corporate culture on team growth can also be perceived!
Thomas KELLNER
3. Being Seen as a Technological Product
Sunli Intelligent, as one of the few B2B exhibitors (along with Tosida and Fu Yida) among the participating companies, was led by Wei Yangyang, the recipient of the National Star Award. Dancers Jiang Yu, Liang Zhihui, and Ye Qing, together with Sunli Intelligent, created the work "Dancing with You", based on the operational characteristics of five types of warehouse robots in the logistics scenario. Five dance segments were performed on-site at five landmark locations in Dongguan, presenting the behind-the-scenes contributions of the manufacturing industry to the city in a visible manner to the audience. The dancers interacted with the four-way shuttle vehicles, loading and unloading AGV robots, and transfer AGV robots, mapping out the frequent and intense warehouse handling movements through graceful dances, which were rich and dynamic, as if little elves were dancing gracefully in the intelligent three-dimensional warehouse, or as if the warehouse logistics robots were showing their strength in a handsome manner in front of the landmark buildings in Dongguan.
"Swing with You" Clip
After learning about the creative intention behind the work, Zhong Zhaoping, the representative of Shunli Intelligent Enterprise, shared his creative experience and expressed his gratitude at the "Dongguan Manufacturing Aesthetics Roundtable" held at Langyuan Station X Art Gallery: "For B2B enterprises like ours that mainly engage in medium-to-large-scale high-end equipment manufacturing, it is rare for us to be in the public eye. This time, we have been seen by the public in three ways, and this in itself is a kind of happiness."
Shunli Intelligent Vertical Storage System
In this art exhibition, apart from Shunli Intelligent's "Dancing with You", portraits of people, and workshop sounds, there are also Ma Defan's "Viewing the Mountains and Seas", Li Caiering and Guo Hongxiao's "Trace of Making", Li Zhiliang's "I Am an Interstellar Bear", "Endless Continuity", Wu Yiting, Ye Zuifeng, Li Jinghu, and Wei Aifang's "Pupil", Qin Xijia's "Pre-set Boundaries", Dai Yun's "Cat Talkers", and the profound meanings behind the works of Korean artist Kim Soonim (KIM Soonim), "The Factory Mother and Her Child", are all worthy of careful interpretation.
NO.3
The profound enlightenment behind the manufacturing aesthetics of "art production"
The work is not only an outward manifestation of the core of the enterprise, but also a display of the substantial foundation of "Dongguan Manufacturing" in a way of gradual accumulation and explosive release. The chief curator, Dr. Shu Yang, believes: "Dongguan was able to be the first to propose 'Manufacturing Aesthetics' not because a concept was designed, but because this industrial soil already had the conditions for allowing art and manufacturing to meet."
Chief Curator Dr. Shu Yang
The chief curator and director of the Dongguan Cultural Center, Huang Xiaoli, stated that this exhibition in Beijing and the series of accompanying activities are merely the starting point of the exploration of the aesthetic of Dongguan manufacturing. In the future, Dongguan will continue to write the Dongguan sample of China-made products moving from scale expansion to quality improvement and value increase.
Wang Xiaoli, Director of Dongguan Cultural Center
Another viewpoint comparing the transformation paths of Dongguan and the Ruhr Area in Germany holds that Dongguan has taken a completely different path. The biggest difference lies in that Dongguan follows a "forward-looking" approach. Its aesthetic resources come from the still-operating production lines, and Dongguan actively reshaped its narrative even when the industry was still booming.
Just as the profound interpretations by the People's Daily, China National Radio Network, Workers' Daily, Learning Power, Travel and Culture China, Southern Daily, Beijing Daily, Dongguan Daily, and Yangcheng Evening News, etc. state: "As Chinese manufacturing shifts from scale expansion to quality improvement, Dongguan, apart from achieving technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading, has also introduced cultural strength into the entire manufacturing process, making design, craftsmanship, production, products, humanistic elements, and the beauty of concepts become part of the value of the manufacturing industry. Such a transformational model is emerging from the workshops of Dongguan."
Exhibition Information
Exhibition Dates
11:00–19:00,12–27 September 2026
Venue
The Stay Space,Beijing Shouchuang Langyuan Station
(Block E4,No.53 Banjieta Road,Chaoyang District,Beijing)
Guests at the Opening Ceremony
Dong Yaopeng
Member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference(CPPCC),Member of the Culture,History and Study Committee;Member of the Party Leadership Group,Vice Chairman and Secretary of the Secretariat of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles;Chairman of China Association of Literary and Art Critics
Li Qianguang
Member of the 13th National Committee of the CPPCC
Zhang Yongxin
Party Secretary of the Palace Museum
Li Shufeng
Vice President of Chinese National Academy of Arts
Li Ge
Chairman of China Photographers Association
Ji Yanwei
Director of the Domestic Liaison Department of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles;Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of China Volunteers Association for Literature and Art
Ma Shengde
Former Deputy Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department,Ministry of Culture
Sun Xing
Deputy Director of the Industrial Culture Development Center,Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
LüJingbo
Member of the Executive Committee of the All-China Women's Federation,Chairman of China Women Photographers Association
Yu Wenguo
Chairman of the Council and Party Branch Secretary of China Industrial Photography Association;Member of the 8th Joint Party Committee of National Industry Associations under the Central Social Work Department
Wu Yiting
Cross-disciplinary Artist,Advocate of Manufacturing Aesthetics
Chief Curators
Shu Yang
Executive President of DCKD German-Chinese Association for Art and Design Exchange
Huang Xiaoli
Curator of Dongguan Cultural Center
Art Director
Li Zhiliang
Exhibition Advisor
You Yang
Representative Artists
Li Zhiliang
Vice Chairman of China Industrial Photography Association,Vice Chairman of Guangdong Photographers Association,Chairman of Dongguan Photographers Association
Ma Defan
Film Costume Designer of China Film Group Corporation
Liang Daohong
Contemporary Chinese Artist&Curator
Li Jinghu
Contemporary Chinese Artist,Installation and Sculpture Artist
Qin Siyuan
Co-founder of Museum of Sound Art
Dai Yun
Head of Public Art Department,Shenzhen Public Culture and Art Creation Center
Qin Xijia
Installation Artist,Chief Demonstrator of Grassmo Art Academy China
Zhou Zhiyuan
Contemporary Artist,Physician at Shenzhen People’s Hospital
Yi Shanqing
Contemporary Artist,Member of Dongshe Art Group
Liu Yixuan
Exhibition Department Director of Pingyao International Photography Festival
Mao Renqiu
Member of China Industrial Photography Association,Member of Guangdong Photographers Association,Deputy Secretary-General of Dongguan Photographers Association
Wei Yangyang
Member of Guangdong Dancers Association,Distinguished Creator of Guangdong Provincial Culture Center
Fang Junxing
Member of Guangdong Photographers Association,Principal of Ruixing Culture
Li Caiying
Young Contemporary Artist from Dongguan
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