Xujiahui Academy invites you to experience the architectural and reading aspects of books, and welcomes the first book exhibition readers after its opening | Xujiahui | Academy
On the occasion of the opening of the 2023 Shanghai Book Fair, Xujiahui Academy launched the "Night of Seeking Light" reading promotion experience activity, inviting readers to transform into "seekers of light" and enter the Xujiahui Academy, known as the "Reading Treasure Box", with the theme of "reading posture". Through the three light seeking routes of "wonderful line, exploration line, and context line", experience the more exciting Shanghai style reading experience as the night progresses.
This Shanghai Book Fair is the first large-scale book exhibition held by Xujiahui Academy after its opening on New Year's Day. Therefore, the academy has brought readers the "Reading Architecture: Dragon Scale Decoration Art Book Special Exhibition" as a significant highlight. Dragon scale binding was a form of binding that appeared in ancient books during the transition from scroll binding to page binding, and it first emerged in the Tang Dynasty. As the book unfolds, the pages "fly by leaf, until the end, they still merge into one volume", like a living dragon, hence the name.
However, this unique form of binding has been lost, and the only surviving physical object, "Bu Bu Bu Bu Qi Qi Yun," is currently housed in the Palace Museum. Zhang Xiaodong, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Dragon Scale Decoration, has spent more than ten years bringing this dusty craftsmanship back to light. On the basis of integrating the techniques of dragon scale decoration and warp folding decoration, he introduced a new binding method called "warp dragon decoration". In this exhibition, visitors can not only appreciate Zhang Xiaodong's representative work of dragon scale costume, "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", but also appreciate his representative works of classic dragon costume, "Qing Dynasty Sun Wen's Painting of Cheng Jia's Illustrated Edition of Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Poetry of Dream of the Red Chamber", as well as his thousand page series of works such as "First Visit to the Grand View Garden" and "Second Visit to the Grand View Garden".
"Previously, we mostly presented dragon scale costumes in art museums or art centers. This time, when we came to Xujiahui Academy, we happened to be able to integrate the 'architectural' and 'architectural readability' of books, and bring new reading modes to everyone in different spaces. The promotion of the book itself is very important," Zhang Xiaodong said in an interview with reporters.
The globally popular Little Prince is a children's literature short story written by French author and pilot Saint Exup Perry, which was officially published in 1943. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the publication of "The Little Prince", the Children's Hall of Xujiahui Academy exhibited nearly 300 books of "The Little Prince" in different languages and decorations collected by folk collector Lu Huigang, as well as hand-painted illustrations and calligraphy copies by famous French literary translator Zhou Kexi. The academy has purchased over 200 different versions of "The Little Prince" for readers to borrow. You can also enjoy the short drama of the Little Prince visiting seven planets and listen to the book sharing session of "The Little Prince" brought by Lu Huigang. Young readers can also participate in the "Little Prince Exploration Planet" mission in the children's library and receive exquisite gifts such as themed postcards, bookmarks, stamp stickers, etc.
During the book fair, fans of detective novels will also welcome a visual feast. The book wall on the east side of the third floor of Xujiahui Academy is hosting an exhibition of rare Eli Quinn detective novels. Ellery Quinn is a pen name used by American detective novelists Manfred Bennington Lee and Frederick Danet's cousins, who are equally famous as Agatha Christie as detective novelists. Combining numerous masterpieces from the golden age, this exhibition showcases many rare and rare first edition detective novels.
During the book exhibition, Xujiahui Academy's "East West Park" will continue to launch a rich content "Summer Night Garden Party". Citizens and tourists can check in with various reading postures on the theme wall of "East Leaning West Reading"; Participate in the interactive pinyin experience game at the "Modern Chinese Characters" text design exhibition and appreciate the beauty of Chinese character design; In the "Hanging Waterfall" Daoming Intangible Cultural Heritage Bamboo Weaving Performance Area, enjoy the skill display brought by Sichuan Intangible Cultural Heritage Bamboo Weaving Artists. Outside the academy, the Xujiahui Church Square is hosting a float reading market with themes such as the origin of Shanghai style, city strolls, artistic life, literary express delivery, pocket books, childlike innocence, poetry nights, morning and evening flower picking, selling a variety of selected books and cultural and creative products.
At the beginning of this month, Xujiahui Academy just welcomed its one millionth readership since its opening. Different from traditional libraries in terms of activity and exhibition design, this library located in a bustling commercial district has always maintained high popularity and attention. According to Fang Yunfang, the director of Xuhui District Library, Xujiahui Academy will continue to explore different possibilities for reading experiences in the future. Coincidentally, during this year's Shanghai Book Fair, Shanghai launched a "One District, One Feature" sub venue to coordinate high-quality cultural resources throughout the city. As one of the sub venues, Xujiahui Academy will collaborate with libraries in various streets and towns in Xuhui District, physical bookstores of the Book Fragrance Alliance, and lighthouse study rooms to launch 100 exciting reading themed activities throughout Xuhui.
Among them, readers at Xujiahui Academy will further experience the fun of the book exhibition through seven "reading postures", including the author sharing event of "Encountering Reading" and "Old Zhou Wangye Eye: Urban History in the Streets and Alleys", the experience activity of "Reading can cross" and "Exploring Shanghai: Traveling through Time and Space", the "Reading can listen" rhythm of the times - He Luting's film music black glue appreciation, the "Reading can perform" suspenseful play "Pillow Man" script reading guide, the "Expanding Light and Searching for the Source" rubbing experience activity of "Reading can inherit", and the "Reading can pay tribute" Nobel Prize bead theme shelf, and other activities.
Each street and town branch in Xuhui District will carry out more than 50 reading activities targeting communities, minors, and special groups based on regional characteristics. About 30 series of activities targeting young white-collar workers and parent-child families in commercial districts, buildings, and other new reading spaces such as Huiyue Reading Fragrance Alliance Book Fragrance Station, Lighthouse Study Room, Meiluo Building, and Fenglin Science and Technology Innovation Park will be held.
