Beijing Going Dutch

by She Jizhou

One highlight of the re- cent Beijing Design Week（BJDW）， SALON， an import from Amsterdam， has been serving as a platform for design， fashion， art and culture. Young， emerging talents， established designers， and artists alike present their works as well as the process which produced them， at various locations throughout a city. The event aspires to stimulate interaction between designers， consumers， the public and the space， placing the creative process and user experience at center stage.

With each installment， SALON connects new arrivals to the existing network， and this time it does so in Beijing. Far beyond traditional opposing forces such as center and periphery， craft and concept， design， fashion， art and commerce and autonomy， SALON/BJ， a vital component of “Design Goes Dutch” at BJDW 2013， primarily addresses how new generations of artists and designers work together and express their ideas.

During BJDW 2013， SALON/BJ relocated and applied works of designers from Amsterdam and Beijing for ten days in Beijings Dashilar area as they “broke down the walls” between disciplines， creator and spectator， neighborhood and city. Located south of Tiananmen Square， Dashilar has long been a Beijing icon， home to timehonored Chinese brands， international shops， traditional teahouses， hutongs and courtyards. After its emergence during the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）， the area quickly became the most prosperous part of the city. Commissioned by and in cooperation with the city of Amsterdam， SALON/BJ chose Dashilar for its similarities with Amsterdam： Both boast a history of 400 years， fea-ture small streets and heavy bicycling， and have been home to local historical artists. The event aims to inspire dialogue between all participants： Locations， workshops， in- stallations， the public and local residents.

SALON was founded in July 2010 by Gijs Stork and Manon Schaap， with hopes of encouraging dialogue between design， fashion， art and culture and providing deeper insight into the layers of the creative disciplines and new forms of cultural entrepreneurship.