PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, Asia Pacific’s leading art fair dedicated to photography and digital artworks, returned to the Shanghai Exhibition Centre from 20 to 23 April. As a presenting partner of the event, Porsche China partnered with the platform for the fifth time to present DREAM IN COLOUR, an exhibition marking the brand’s 75th anniversary. Featuring four sections – Origin, Inspiration, Passion and Vision – the show outlined the canvas upon which Porsche paints its everlasting pursuit of dreams, illustrating the brand’s essence of heritage and innovation, and encouraging all dreamers to chase their own dreams. Porsche collaborated with a number of world-renowned artists, including Chris Labrooy and Yang Yongliang, to tell the story of how they pursue their dreams and to pay tribute to dreamers through their unique artistic perspectives.
“Porsche China was honoured to return to PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, to share our unique thinking and ideas on art, images and lifestyle with the public,” says Michael Kirsch, President and CEO of Porsche China. “As we are celebrating Porsche’s 75th anniversary this year, we curated a themed exhibition to look back at this unforgettable journey of dreams, and we hope to evoke the passion of dreams within each and every dreamer, inspiring them to relentlessly explore their dreams.”
Interpretation of colourful dreams through four exhibition sections
Porsche’s DREAM IN COLOUR exhibition was an immersive brand experience themed around four sections, with a limited-edition multi-colour Taycan Turbo S under the spotlight to demonstrate the brand’s long-standing heritage and continuing beliefs.
Dreams and vision have always been synonymous with Porsche. The Origin section of the show took a look at memorable moments from the birth of the brand to the present day, with rare archival images evolving from black and white to full colour. These illustrated how Porsche has always adhered to its original aspiration of pursuing the perfect sports car, and how it has turned its dreams into reality, time and again. One of the highlights of this section was the world premiere of ‘Artifacts’, a new art book produced by the Porsche Museum and Type 7 magazine, which delves deep into the story of Porsche’s DNA, through a curated selection of items from the vaults in Porsche’s home in Zuffenhausen.
Dreams that go on to become reality often begin as an ethereal, misty nebula, and gradually turn from abstract to being realised through bursts of inspiration. The Inspiration section of the show therefore featured ‘Nebula’, a work specially created by leading Chinese visual artist Yang Yongliang. This piece represented a cross-generational dialogue spanning 75 years, from the outline of the classic 356 to that of the all-electric Taycan. Yang Yongliang’s ‘Glows in the Arctic’ artwork also made its Chinese mainland debut at the exhibition, presenting the artist’s own reflections on the world today through contemporary and traditional Chinese landscape art.
The Passion section conveyed the belief that ‘for dreams to come true they need to be driven by passion’. Porsche embodies a group of dreamers who are driven by passion, who pursue their dreams in various ways while also adding colour to the brand’s success story. Among many others these could include Porsche family members who devote themselves to their sports car dreams, racing drivers who repeatedly push the limits on the track, artists who express themselves in a professional snapshot of the times, and owners who enjoy the pure joy of driving.
From the past to the present, people have turned their visions into reality with imaginative foresight, thereby transforming the future. Porsche invited Scottish artist Chris Labrooy to present the Vision section, featuring a collection of the artist’s quirky and dynamic works. Blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy, these pieces interpret his dream Porsche through a wildly imaginative and surreal avant-garde perspective. Among the works, the playful immersive installation ‘Dream Big.’ made a surprise appearance in the plaza area of the Shanghai Exhibition Centre.
Elsewhere, visitors were invited to take photos and write down their dreams to post on a DRIVEN BY DREAMS mosaic wall. The end result was a public-involvement installation that illustrated the Porsche brand philosophy of ‘Driven by Dreams’ while cherishing and encouraging the diverse ambitions of those who took part.
Pursuing and colouring the picture of dreams together
Dreams form the beginning of the Porsche story and the foundation of the brand’s success. For more than 75 years, Porsche has been combining heritage and innovation to realise the sports car dreams of customers around the world. More than that, Porsche is determined to help more people make their own, unique dreams become a reality.
“Through a wide variety of cultural and artistic activities and experiences, Porsche provides audiences and fans with positive inspiration and optimistic attitudes towards dreams, contributing to building a vibrant cultural community and a sustainable society,” continues Kirsch. “With the 75th anniversary of the brand, Porsche China will also launch a series of commemorative brand activities to bring dreamers together and aid them in carrying their dreams forward, taking them from fantasy to reality and painting a stunning canvas of dreams.”