Dragon-themed artworks on show in Shanghai for Chinese New Year

Augmented Reality (AR) is used to bring the dragons to life, with a mesmerizing display of five lifelike 3D dragons in iconic Shanghai locations symbolizing the auspicious meaning of the Year of the Dragon.

At the same time, ancient bricks crafted with the images of dragons dating back over 1,600 years ago to the Eastern Jin dynasty are also on display. The bricks are from the collection of the Mingzhitang Bricks Museum in Shanghai. This marks the first time these bricks have left the museum and entered a contemporary art gallery, where they will be transformed into a large-scale, immersive and interactive art installation.

"This is a dragon made of eleven ancient bricks, with its tail composed of five bricks. Apart from this one, we can see nearly 400 brick dragons displayed on the wall, all of which are exhibited in our Mingzhitang Bricks Museum, and each one is different," said Zhu Mingqi, director of Mingzhitang Bricks Museum.

And with the help of AR technology, the dragon comes to life on your mobile phone with a simple scan. Visitors can also explore traditional culture through rubbings, an ancient Chinese printing technique. This experience gives people the chance to learn about the cultural significance of these ancient bricks.