'Imperial Colors' Showcases Ancient China's Royal High Fashion
A heavyweight exhibition featuring over 100 top-grade imperial embroidery costumes from Beijing's Palace Museum raised its curtain yesterday at the World Expo Museum, showcasing the highest craftsmanship of ancient Chinese royal haute couture.
"Imperial Colors" gathers 101 rare textile and embroidery artifacts, including formal court robes, ceremonial garments, casual attires, fabric materials, boots, socks, decorative ribbons and royal accessories. The relics belonged to four Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors including Kangxi, Qianlong and Tongzhi, six empresses and dowagers such as Empress Dowager Cixi and multiple imperial concubines.
Nearly 90 percent of the artifacts have left Beijing for the first time for the Shanghai exhibition, and more than 30 percent are making their public debut.
Among the 100,000 textile and embroidery relics housed at the Palace Museum, imperial robes stand out as the most magnificent treasures, organizers said.
"Imperial costumes represent the pinnacle of ancient Chinese ritual culture, silk weaving and natural dyeing techniques, hailed as traditional Chinese royal high fashion," said Liu Wentao, curator of the museum.
The exhibition is divided into six thematic sections. It illustrates color codes, ritual implications and dynastic aesthetic standards of imperial attires worn for sacrificial ceremonies, state affairs, festivals and daily leisure occasions.
The exhibition also offers digital immersive experiences. Its interactive digital gallery adopts VR (virtual reality), naked-eye 3D and multi-modal interactive screen technologies.
Visitors can access free audio guide services throughout the exhibition halls, covering 46 key exhibits and digital display.
The museum will launch nearly 100 public events during the three-month exhibition. Upcoming activities include seminars, handcraft workshops, children's museum exploration camps and natural herbal dyeing sessions themed on traditional Chinese natural pigments.
If you go:
Date: July 7-October 7 (closed on Mondays), 9am-5pm
Admission: 88 yuan (US$12.9)
Venue: World Expo Museum 世博会博物馆
Address: 818 Mengzi Rd, Huangpu District
黄浦区蒙自路818号
