Success story
600+
Visitors in two days, with 60+ companies and 80+ industry professionals taking part.
The Story
OMNI Art Expo: a look back at the first joint exhibition of global art schools in China
“Many voices make a whole; inspiration knows no borders.”
27 days of preparation
15 art schools in the US and UK
About 100 artists and designers
60+ pioneering companies
80+ industry professionals
600+ art and design enthusiasts
OMNI Art Expo, the first joint exhibition of global art schools in China, took place in Shanghai on July 24–25, 2021.
OMNI Art Expo is an art and design exhibition co-founded by student organizations from top art schools around the world, together with companies, artists and designers. It is dedicated to gathering, blending and telling the stories of outstanding art and design from many cultural perspectives. Omni comes from the Latin omnis, meaning “all,” a sign that art and design inspiration from around the world knows no borders here.
OMNI Art Expo was the first time art schools from around the world showed together, bringing together student work from 15 top schools in the US and UK and showing the different art and design styles of each school. The works covered every discipline: fashion, illustration, animation, entertainment design, graphic design, interaction design, automotive design, product design, architecture, photography, fine art and more.
Typhoon In-Fa came on strong, but it could not hold back visitors’ passion for art and design. Over just two days, July 24–25, OMNI Art Expo welcomed more than 600 visits, and at times the venue was full.
True to the founding idea of OMNI Art Expo, the show gave nearly 100 outstanding art and design students a stage to present themselves. Here, the artists not only had a great chance to show their work but also the rare experience of talking with fellow artists and designers and with visitors, sparking ideas again and again.
OMNI also gave art and design lovers a rare chance to get close to art and design.
OMNI Art Expo also invited exhibiting artists, student leaders, company representatives and industry pioneers, with many interactive and sharing sessions that gave visitors a fuller, more varied experience.
Talks
Vivian & Tiffany, Founders, CommonRare
Zhang Yong, China Director, Arario Gallery
Nelson Ng, Founder, VOLUME PRESS
Chen Chen, Founder, DOVETAIL
Xinzhou Liu, Co-founder and Designer, LAZY EAZY
The talks began at 1:45 PM on July 24. On July 25, a hands-on workshop explored the theme “Automotive Interior as a Living Space.”
Student Leader Roundtable
On the afternoon of July 24, student leaders from seven leading art schools in the US and UK held a roundtable and Q&A. They took a close look at each school’s curriculum and at what everyone cared about most: studying and finding work after the pandemic, and how their schools responded during it.
Nike Run Hai Lane × aolab Runway Show
As a satellite event of OMNI Art Expo 2021, aolab, one of OMNI’s organizers, teamed up with Nike Run Hai Lane to present a boundary-breaking fashion show on the evening of July 25 at Nike Run Hai Lane, 99 Xikang Road, Shanghai. Emerging designers, including students of leading fashion schools in New York and London, used original looks to bring cultures and styles together and reinterpret a range of Nike shoes: ink-wash black and white, millennium sci-fi, new Chinese style, the ’80s, new wave, retro-futurism, absurd art, Eastern classical charm and future creatures. Nothing can limit Gen Z except themselves.
Special thanks
Student curators
Event initiator: Yihan Luo
Student leaders: Hanyong Yang, Yimeng Yao, Yiran Sun, Yinghan Zhang, Yining Wang, He Zhu, TC Ye
Thanks also to OMNI’s strategic partners and to every volunteer.
Building the venue, one cinder block at a time.
Credits
Organized by aolab
Curators: Haidy Gong, Funi Ding
Guest graphic designers: Di Sheng / Ruby Zhang
