BMW Brilliance's exhibition tips cap to Chinese intangible cultural heritage

BMW Brilliance Automotive, German auto giant BMW's joint venture in China, launched an intangible cultural heritage exhibition on Thursday in Beijing, demonstrating the automaker's achievements in protecting Chinese traditional culture.

Held from Thursday to Saturday at the 798 Art Zone in northeast Beijing, the exhibition showcased some 250 pieces of cultural and creative products, which were transformed from some Chinese intangible cultural heritage items by 17 inheritors.

The cultural and creative products included Hunan embroidery and the traditional costume of the Yi ethnic group, as part of BMW's efforts to integrate the intangible cultural heritage into modern life, according to the carmaker.

The 17 intangible cultural heritage inheritors all have received professional training in an innovation center for intangible cultural heritage safeguarding, which was established by BMW in collaboration with Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design in 2016.

"The innovation center we forged with the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University has been fruitful for the past three years. We are proud of the contributions made by the innovation center to the protection of intangible cultural heritage," said Johann Wieland, president and CEO of BMW Brilliance Automotive.

Since its establishment in 2016, the innovation center has offered training to some 250 intangible cultural heritage inheritors, held seven exhibitions and four seminars on intangible cultural heritage.

The innovation center is part of BMW's long-standing corporate social responsibility program - the BMW China Cultural Journey.

Adhering to the goal of creating shared value, the BMW China Culture Journey is committed to forging a bridge that connects the Chinese society with BMW's stakeholders, according to the CEO.

At the opening ceremony of the intangible cultural heritage exhibition on Thursday, the auto giant introduced a series of achievements made by the BMW China Culture Journey during its visit to South China's Hainan province in July.

The BMW China Cultural Journey selected five intangible cultural heritage inheritors from Hainan to allow them to access the innovation center forged together with Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts and Design.

As of now, the five inheritors have completed the training courses in the innovation center, and will design and develop some creative products with market demand together with Tsinghua's professors. The products are expected to hit the market by March 2020.

Engaging the inheritors and professors in research, cultivation, art design and industrialization, the BMW China Cultural Journey aims to promote the innovative transformation and development of intangible cultural heritages, according to the carmaker.

During the three-day exhibition, the auto giant also showcased the new 7 Series Halo Edition, one of BMW's latest results of showing respect for Chinese culture and integrating the traditional culture into modern life.

The model has been coupled with a raft of Chinese cultural elements, including the embroidery, porcelain and jade, demonstrating BMW's innovative understanding of the country's traditional culture, according to the carmaker.

Joining hands with a design team headed by Lu Xiaobo, dean of the Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University, BMW has taken 12 months to complete the research and development of the new 7 Series Halo Edition. The model had its debut at the 2019 Chengdu Motor Show in September.