Art and Culture

As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, Taikoo Hui in Guangzhou hosted several art exhibitions throughout 2021. The first was a botanical art exhibition called Here and Now that fused the creative use of plants with cultural themes. Curated by acclaimed florist Xu Fei’s studio TWENTY ONE, the exhibition ran in May and June 2021.

The second exhibition was an interactive art installation, Please Be Seated, created by British designer Paul Cocksedge and part of Swire Properties’ first roving art exhibition. The design features a rippling wave of wood that rises up to form arches for people to walk through, and curves under to create spaces for people to sit, lie down and relax. Echoing our focus on SD, the piece is fabricated from 1,440 planks of sustainably sourced timber.

The installation was first introduced at Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, then displayed at Taikoo Hui from March until July 2021. It then moved on to Taikoo Li Qiantan and will be permanently installed in Taikoo Li Sanlitun.

HKRI Taikoo Hui held an art campaign called Dare for More Dare to Play from April to June, integrating elements of culture, lifestyle and charity. Part of the campaign was the local version of the global piano event, Play Me, I'm Yours.

Dare For More Dare to Play featured street culture that blended artistic and sporting expression, including piano playing, artistic roller skating and paddle tennis. The campaign promoted positive lifestyle messages such as how to stand up to challenges, living life with confidence, and going beyond one’s limits.

Play Me, I'm Yours, celebrating its fourth anniversary in 2021, is an initiative by British artist Luke Jerram, featuring colourful pianos placed on the streets of cities around the world for people to play and enjoy. The initiative first came to Shanghai in 2018 and has grown into an important part of the city’s art scene. HKRI Taikoo Hui has donated 50 pianos to this initiative so far, building its reputation as a supporter of the arts and helping to embed arts and culture into everyday life.

Supported by Taikoo Li Sanlitun, the 20th Sanlitun Culture and Art Festival ran through May and June, featuring musical performances, singing, dancing, recitals and shows based on traditional Chinese culture. This was the fourth year the shopping mall has supported this cultural event.

This continuing support is a symbol of the mall’s commitment to promoting cultural, art and charity events in cooperation with the local government, schools and organisations, and a wider reflection of Swire Properties’ philosophy of building integrated communities, improving the overall living environment and contributing to the wellbeing of the greater community.

Following a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the much-missed Swire Properties Arts Month returned in May 2021, welcoming a number of acclaimed artists from around the world, while also marking the ninth year of Swire Properties’ partnership with Art Basel in Hong Kong.

The event was headlined by international artists famous for originality in their fields – one being renowned British designer Paul Cocksedge, who debuted a Hong Kong version of Please Be Seated at Taikoo Park. Constructed using sustainably sourced timber, the piece exemplifies Swire Properties’ commitment to sustainable development and our ethos of placemaking for the local community – creating a place for people to stay and enjoy.

Another three vibrantly coloured sculptures – High Heel (pink), Headphones (blue) and Bright Idea by Michael Craig-Martin, a principal figure in British conceptual art – were exhibited at Pacific Place and in Taikoo Park. Each piece was a larger-than-life rendition of an everyday object constructed in powder-coated steel.

At ArtisTree in Taikoo Place, a multimedia exhibition created by Norwegian artist Fredrik Tjærandsen fused fashion with movement, film, photography, and visual art. This was the Asian debut of the show, which encouraged visitors to interact with a large-scale installation made of natural rubber latex that mirrored the colourful, eccentric bubble dresses that appear in the film.

In 2021, Swire Properties became Principal Patron for the new Museum of Art Pudong (“MAP”), designed by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel. Developed by Shanghai Lujiazui Group, the museum is located on a prominent site on the Pudong waterfront.

With six floors and 13 exhibition halls, MAP adds another dimension to Shanghai’s flourishing arts scene, with exhibitions that will include classic and Chinese art and international collections. The museum opened in July 2021 with exhibitions by Tate Britain, Chinese fireworks artist Cai Guoqiang and Spain's Fundació Joan Miró.