Chasing Light in Shenzhen is Going Viral: GLOW SHENZHEN 2022 caused widespread concern.

SHENZHEN, China, March 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The 3rd Glow Shenzhen, with the theme of “Chasing the Flowing Light”, has come to an end recently. This “Chasing Light” event, which lasted for more than two months, not only attracted the cooperation of famous curators and artists at home and abroad, but also triggered a “conjunction” between art and business, consumption and space, city and aesthetics with its diversified expression, having also aroused extensive attention.

Glow Shenzhen 2022 shows 217 pieces of light and shadow artworks from various countries spreading across 10 districts in Shenzhen and have sparked 460 million views on Tik Tok and ¥35 million online consumption.

A City-Wide Event of Light and Shadow

The Glow Shenzhen has been held 3 times. Shenzhen has taken a different approach to master the art of “light and shadow” instead of dazzling blocks and shining commercial complexes.

Based on the experience of the previous sessions, the 3^rd Glow Shenzhen has adopted the “1+5+4+n” model, i.e., 1 main exhibition area + 5 sub-exhibitions + 4 exhibition sites + 35 event venues, showcasing 78 groups of 217 light and shadow artworks by renowned curators and artists from various countries and regions.

To promote the integrated development of urban industry, academia and research, Glow Shenzhen 2022 has set up a “Green Channel for Young Artists” in conjunction with universities to explore new expressions of young artists on urban space art.

As the largest session, many insiders believe that the 3^rd Glow Shenzhen has developed into a light and shadow grand event throughout Shenzhen.

From Data collected, since its opening in mid-December 2022, the Glow Shenzhen has been popular among the public. It received 460 million views on Tik Tok, and once ranked among the top 3 popular destinations on Tik Tok Shenzhen area.

A “Cultural Card” that Lights up Shenzhen

“Light and shadow is the expression of a city’s spirit and temperament, and the Glow Shenzhen has brought the city and the public closer.” Wu Chunhai, the representative of the Glow Shenzhen organizer, said that after more than 40 years of urban development, Shenzhen is now more willing to stimulate the energy of public space, design more cultural life scenes for citizens to be involved in, and provide Shenzhen people with some kind of wonderful everyday experience.

As stated above, since the first Glow Shenzhen in 2020, a large number of outstanding art works have encountered Shenzhen citizens on the streets, not only adding different aesthetic scenes and fun, but also igniting the vitality of going out and artistic imagination in people’s daily lives.

“People’s first impression of a city often comes from its public space. And the operation of a city’s public space is not only the renewal of the existing form of the city, but also a reflection of the spiritual core of a city, as well as exploration and thinking of how to serve the people in the city, which is our original intention of planning the Glow Shenzhen.” Huang Ying, the planning and executing party of the Glow Shenzhen, expressed that through the operation and service of urban public space, we hope to create a city’s cultural card: from the dazzling art works to the cultural landscape of the city, and the multiple experiences and interactions of people in the urban space, we light up Shenzhen with light and shadow, and create the future with art together.

Stimulate Nearly ¥600 million in Consumption at One Time

In addition, this year’s Glow Shenzhen also realized huge success between art & business.

In order to boost consumption, stimulate the city’s nighttime economy and fully promote the development of the city, Glow Shenzhen 2022 lasted for more than 2 months, and also connected 7 carnivals, 25 Glow Shopping Go business districts and 68 thematic activities with the help of New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and other festive celebrations, fully innovating the industry’s consumption scene, creating special commercial brands and enriching the city’s commercial vitality.

The data shows that Glow Shopping Go generated a total of nearly ¥35 million online voucher transactions, driving an estimated total offline consumption of ¥500-600 million. At the same time, there was a significant increase in the flow of people and sales in the participating shopping areas during the event.

“The art of light and shadow is the driving force for the vigorous development of the nighttime economy.” In the view of Shenzhen OCT Harbour, the interactive power of Glow Shenzhen not only extends the urban scene during the day, but also expands the experience and consumption dimension of the city spanning day and night.

With the three-dimensional night consumption experience of “night performance, night tour, night shopping, night fun and night banquet”, OCT Harbour achieved a 107% increase in customer flow and 53% increase in turnover during the festival.

Inspire Aesthetic Education by Light and Shadow, Empower the City with Art

Looking forward, how will the Glow Shenzhen progress, and how will it make efforts to become an international top light and shadow art brand and make Shenzhen the capital of light and shadow art?

The 3^rd Glow Shenzhen Forum may give us the answers, where guests sat around to discuss how to explore and release the potential of Shenzhen’s nighttime economy in a deeper manner, and how to contribute to the integration of light and shadow art with nighttime culture, life, leisure, recreation, consumption, and other multiple industries.

Zhao Li, chief curator of the Glow Shenzhen 2022 and associate dean and professor at the School of Art Management and Education of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, delivered a keynote speech on the sociality of public art under the title of “Public Art: Cultural City and Social Cooperation”.

Zhao Li said that the Glow Shenzhen is not a light show, nor a fleeting memory exhibition, it is an effort to build the city’s reputation. It carries the meaning of urban public culture, and it needs to expand to the squares, the blocks, and different social spaces, allowing the public to feel art in their daily lives. It needs to truly combine with the cultural essence of the city and live in harmony with the urban routine.

Zhao Li took the creative culture cultivation of Karlsruhe in Germany, the Linz Electronic Arts Festival, Austria, the Amsterdam Light Festival in Netherlands, and the Vivid Sydney as examples to illustrate the great potential of creativity in activating the city’s nighttime economy, promoting local development, and helping the city to form a unique cultural brand and cultural identity. After that he sent the following message to Shenzhen: “The world is watching Shenzhen, and she has to be more future-oriented than the city in the cases I mentioned above. The art of light and shadow can take root in Shenzhen, it can integrate with industry and society, and combine with technical skills and knowledgeable people.”

Looking into the future, we believe that the Glow Shenzhen should not only show the infinite vitality of digital art, but also think about the integration of digital art industry and urban development. 

SOURCE GLOW SHENZHEN