They will also find Chinese patterns, materials and decorative methods, such as mother-of-pearl-inlaid lacquers, utilized by the brand to create a variety of art pieces.
The AI team led by Cai reconstructed a landscape painting by Ni Zan (1301-74) and combined it with Chinese garden line drawings to create the scenography. The design has "taken Chinese aesthetics to the extreme", Chu says.
Ni is one of the four great master painters of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). He was from today's Wuxi in Jiangsu province and lived a reclusive life by Taihu Lake. His landscape paintings often featured minimal compositions, leaving large blank areas on the paper that usually depict a few slim trees, mountains from afar, or a rustic hut with no human presence.
At the opening ceremony on Nov 4, Cai recalled his college years studying stage design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, when he used to go to the Shanghai Museum and see the paintings. "I especially admired the spirit of Ni Zan and considered him my soul mate," he says.
