Moleskine Detour arrives in Beijing

September 2013
Press Release
Moleskine Detour arrives in Beijing
Moleskine partners with the Beijing Design Week for a new edition of this iconic
travelling exhibition. The retrospective will take place in Moleskine Taikoo Li concept
store and it will feature Chinese and international renowned architects and
designers. New Chinese authors are joining in Beijing, September 24th – October 27th,
2013.
Beijing, September 2013 - Detour is a travelling group show featuring
decorated notebooks by internationally recognized artists, architects, film
directors, graphic designers, musicians, illustrators and writers. Visitors are
invited to wear special white gloves, insert their hands into the boxes and
flick through the notebooks, establishing a direct and intimate
relationship with the authors’ creative process as it unfolds on the blank
pages of a Moleskine notebook.
Some works contain extensive stories and illustrated narratives; others are
turned into sculptures, pieces of contemporary art and design. Curated by
Raffaella Guidobono this unique travelling exhibition has already taken
place in London (2006), New York (2007), Paris (2008), Berlin (2008),
Istanbul (2009), Tokyo (2009), Venice (2010), Shanghai (2010).
Detour is coming back to China for a special exhibition created in
partnership with the Beijing Design Week to celebrate local and
international design and architecture.
6 new Chinese architects and designers are taking part in this edition:
Vega Wang, Wang Yiyang, Lin Lin, Li Hu, Zhang Ke and Elaine Ng Yan
Ling. Their artworks will be exhibited together with 12 other international
and Chinese designers and architects from previous Detour editions such as
Ron Arad, the Campana Brothers, Antonio Marras, Kengo Kuma, Alan Chan,
Ou Ning, Ma Yansong, Lyndon Neri & Rossana Hu, Carl Liu,
Anothermountainman, Joseph Li and Karim Rashid. All Detour authors
donated their notebooks to the project, supporting the lettera27
Foundation, a foundation involved in cultural projects for the promotion of
literacy, education, art and knowledge.
Detour Beijing will be held inside Moleskine store in Taikoo Li Sanlitun – an
innovative store concept which integrates a retail area and an experience
area for an inspiring and holistic brand experience.
The show continues online, on moleskine.com/detour and weibo.com/moleskine where you can flick through the
notebooks via videos and photos, and view short video-portraits of some of the authors.
moleskine shanghai, room 610, the centre, 989 changle road, shanghai
上海市长乐路 989 号世纪商贸广场 610 室
www.moleskine.com
FOLLOW ALL DETOUR BEIJING EVENTS AND LATEST UPDATES ON WEIBO.CN/MOLESKINE
Creativity in the Making. A Close View into the Creative Process
The traveling group show Detour invites authors to compile and
illustrate Moleskine notebooks with experienced knowledge insider tips
for adventure hungry nomads. The flick through exhibition allows the
public to connect closely with the authors and see their creative process
“in the making”. Notebooks are positioned in special transparent boxes,
with openings for hands, through which the public can actually touch
and browse through the pages, after wearing special gloves. Some works
contain extensive stories, some are just collectors of rough ideas jotted
down quickly by the authors, and some others are turned into pieces of
contemporary and design.
The idea of this travelling exhibition originated from what was
happening organically among all those creative professionals who use
notebooks for sketching, jotting down ideas, painting, creative writing,
organizing. In 2006, Moleskine with lettera27 started collecting these
works, showcasing them to the public offline and online, thus creating
an innovative format for a new kind of flick through exhibitions.
Detour Supports the Access to Knowledge
Detour exhibitions support the non-profit lettera27 Foundation. Detour
authors donate their notebooks to the Foundation, whose mission is to
promote the right to literacy, to education and the access to
knowledge all over the world and especially in the most deprived areas.
lettera27 runs WikiAfrica, a project designed to Africanize Wikipedia
through networks, research, projects, publications, and events.
moleskine shanghai, room 610, the centre, 989 changle road, shanghai
上海市长乐路 989 号世纪商贸广场 610 室
www.moleskine.com
Glossary
Moleskine
Moleskine was created as a brand in 1997, bringing back to life the legendary notebook used by artists and
thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and
Bruce Chatwin. A trusted and handy travel companion, the nameless black notebook held invaluable sketches,
notes, stories, and ideas that would one day become famous paintings or the pages of beloved books.
Today, Moleskine is synonymous with a set of indispensable creative tools that help define who we are,
identifying us wherever we are in the world. The notebooks, journals, bags and reading accessories have become
a symbol of latter-day nomadism, and they are intimately tied to the digital world. Flexible and brilliantly simple
tools for use in both every day and extraordinary circumstances, they ultimately form an integral part of our
personality.
www.moleskine.com
lettera27
Non-profit foundation, born in July 2006. Its mission is to support the right to literacy, education, and the
access to knowledge and information. Lettera27 is the 27th letter of the alphabet, the missing letter, the letter
yet to be, the hybrid sign, the empty box, the link between oral and written words, the connection to the future,
the intersection of analogic and digital.
www.lettera27.org
Raffaella Guidobono, Curator
Raffaealla Guidobono is an Independent Curator and Art/Design Advisor working between Italy, Latin America
and Turkey. She has also curated the Moleskine Detour group shows in London, Paris, New York, Berlin, Istanbul,
and Tokyo.
www.tedxpalermo.com/team
Zetalab, Exhibition Designer
Zetalab designed the Detour and myDetour exhibition system, as well as all graphics and videos. Based in Milan,
Zetalab is a brand and communication design agency that develops successful projects for companies, products
and institutions. Some of its members are active in teaching in Italian universities and renowned design schools.
www.zetalab.com
Taikoo Li Sanlitun
Taikoo Li Sanlitun, located at the junction of Worker’s Stadium North Road and Sanlitun Road in Chaoyang
District, Beijing, comprises two sites with a total gross floor area of over 136,000 sq m (approx. 1,470,000 sq ft) *
spreading over 19 buildings, including the award-winning urban hotel – The Opposite House.
Taikoo Li Sanlitun was Swire Properties’ first commercial property to open for business in the Mainland China
market in 2008, blending with Art, music, culture, fashion, F&B and shopping from worldwide. As the leader of
trends in Beijing, Taikoo Li Sanlitun offers more than 200 shops, including Mont Blanc’s global flagship store,
Miu Miu Asia’s flagship store, I.T Beijing Market, Paul Smith’s first flagship store in Beijing, Christian Louboutin
first boutique store in Beijing, Apple Store’s first store in China, adidas’ global brand center, Asia’s first Page One
& The Woodhouse concept store, M.A.C’s biggest flagship store in China, Hollister’s largest boutique store in
Beijing, as well as a unique cultural entertainment space, The Orange, and parking for more than 880 cars.
The retail portions of Taikoo Li Sanlitun are jointly owned by Swire Properties, which holds an 80 percent stake,
and Gateway China Fund I which is a fund managed by Gaw Capital owns the remaining 20 percent. The
Opposite House of Swire Hotels is wholly-owned by Swire Properties.
* Gross floor area excludes car park areas.
www.taikoolisanlitun.com
moleskine shanghai, room 610, the centre, 989 changle road, shanghai
上海市长乐路 989 号世纪商贸广场 610 室
www.moleskine.com
Beijing Design Week
Beijing Design Week is a governmental supported initiative that since 2011 has rapidly established itself as a
leading international platform dedicated to design in China, offering an expansive overview of its transforming
landscape, while serving as a catalyst, laboratory and incubator for innovative perspectives generating from
industry to academia that inspire and shape contemporary design discourse and practice.
www.bjdw.org
For high-resolution images and more information, please contact:
Angle Communication
Tristin Zhang
M:+86 1360 1954 491
E-mail: amie@anglecomm.com
Moleskine Asia
Consuelo Romeo
T: +852 39752408
E-mail: consuelo.romeo@moleskine.com
Moleskine China
Syvian Qiyun
T: +86 21 54561572 ext. 207
E-mail: syvian.qiyun@moleskine.com
moleskine shanghai, room 610, the centre, 989 changle road, shanghai
上海市长乐路 989 号世纪商贸广场 610 室
www.moleskine.com