News
Neri&Hu and Ms MIN’s collaborative exhibition, entitled HeYi or "integration" in Chinese, celebrates the intersections between architecture, fashion and product design. The exhibition takes place in Design Republic · Design Commune, a concession-era architectural relic renovated by Neri&Hu -- a building which represents the integration and co-existence of heritage and modernity.
Three gallery spaces within the building are transformed with fabric installations which serve as a canvas for displaying Neri&Hu designed furniture pieces juxtaposed with Ms MIN's sartorial creations. The notion of the "promenade", which has significant historical implications in both fashion and architecture, is central to the concept behind the layout of the exhibition which features a series of laminated alleys or lanes.
Composed of several sets of white translucent fabric suspended as a series of textiles planes, the installation creates a private atmosphere for visitors to discover, observe, and discuss. This intimate ambiance is reminiscent of the hanging laundry found in Shanghai's traditional longtang alleyways. Known as communal streetscapes where private and public, "intimate" and "extimate" blur, the alleyways form pockets of space where gossip and informal gatherings may occur.
Between the layers of hung fabric, the human body is artfully implied through the placement of curated furniture pieces which impart a sense of domesticity, along with dressed mannequins which serve as "characters" to animate the scenes. Together, these objects initiate a dialogue between the body, space and light. The translucency of the spatial dividers formed add to the layered sense of intrigue. Shadows of people and objects merge, with movements captured, amplified, and montaged upon the fabric screens.
The Chinese notion of "fiction" is historically assigned to the term xiaoshuo, literally translated as "small talk" which originates from the stories and gossip heard in alleys and streets. In this exhibition, Neri&Hu and Ms MIN invite you to enjoy a "small talk".