Creativity solution to a lot of problems

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BIZCHINA / Weekly Roundup

Creativity solution to a lot of problems

By Erik Nilsson (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-12 14:35

A creativity and design studio in Dashanzi Art District (originally 798
Factory). The studio is the heart of Beijing's increasingly visible art
and culture community. More such facilities are springing up across he
county, reflecting the shifting emphasis on creativity and innovation.
[newsphoto]

Shanghai actress Ai Wan - identified as a "leader of the new rising
creative class in Beijing" by Outlook Magazine - believes the creative
sector has a bright future. "With so many of us in this generation
developing creative initiatives, and setting and attaining goals, China
is bound to become one of the most prosperous and creative countries,"
she says.

In April, Ai organized the Creative Class Party, which brought together
about 700 industry leaders under the roof of her China Doll nightclub in
Beijing to "meet, network and party". She hopes the event would create
opportunities for exchange in a more creatively stimulating setting than
a traditional convention hall.

"Cross-field communication among the elite of these industries could
generate good ideas and provide inspiration." Ai says she came to Beijing
after 15 years in Hollywood because of the opportunities offered by
China's "creative renaissance".

Ai, who has acted in such blockbusters as Rush Hour and Death Becomes
Her, was fed up with the stereotype roles available to Asian actresses in
the US. So she left her home with a balcony view of the Hollywood sign to
try her hand at more creative endeavors back home. Within three years,
she reinvented herself into a writer, film producer, interior designer
for Epic Design, host of China's International Fashion Week and culture
columnist for Modern Weekly.

"In China, I found that I had more opportunities to do my favorite things
and to do creative work based on traditional culture combined with more
modernized elements and perspectives, instead of being an actress like I
was in the US. I think all of us learning and living in China are
actively influencing the country besides the top 500 multinational
corporations on the mainland."

Most insiders agree the foreign media has been the greatest influence on
China's creative industry during its "copycat" phase. "It's more than
normal that creative industry is influenced by foreign companies -
especially European and US enterprises," says Modern Media's premier
scriptwriter Li Mengxia.

"But it is during this process of copying that true Chinese creativity is
developing Hopefully we will see more Chinese artists doing new,
ground-breaking creative work that people everywhere can learn from," Li
says.

International influence has been two-tiered, according to Terry Flew,
head of Postgraduate Studies in Queensland University of Technology's
Creative Industries. The first is the general influence of the dominant
Western - mostly US - models in terms of product style and targeting
audiences. And then there are Asian countries, which have a powerful
pan-Asian appeal, he says.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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20071123 Extracted from http://www.hellomandarin.net