This photo taken on November 6, 2023 shows a Lego featuring the image of an “auspicious Chinese dragon” unveiled at the 6th China International Import Expo in Shanghai, eastern China. Showing a toy set. (Xinhua/Zhang Keren)
BRUSSELS, February 9 (Xinhua News Agency) – British graphic designer Phil Cleaver has been recognized for his work that skillfully incorporates the expression of ancient Chinese dragons, winning the 2024 World Zodiac Design Competition sponsored by the Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchange Center. won an award.
To demonstrate his understanding of this year’s zodiac animal, the Chinese Dragon (also known as “Rong” in Chinese pronunciation), Cleaver combined various symbolic objects in his work. An antique Chinese dragon-shaped pipe rests on top of an open book, which rests on a backboard decorated with an old dragon stamp motif.
“The Ron itself is an antique pipe, beautiful in detail and proportions, placed on top of a book that is a story of dragons. The book is a symbol of very ancient knowledge…The book reflects knowledge and wisdom. I’m talking about Masu Ron,” the professor at the School of Art and Design at Middlesex University in London told Xinhua in a written interview.
This photo is British graphic designer Phil Cleaver’s work “Year of the Dragon,” which was submitted to the 2024 World Zodiac Design Competition sponsored by the Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchange Center. (Distributed via Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchange Center/Xinhua News Agency)
Cleaver said China invented the art of making paper and the process of painting, so these “old objects with layers of meaning” were combined to create the Year of the Dragon design.
This is the second time he has participated in this contest. Last year, in a competition commemorating the Year of the Rabbit, he presented a print entitled “Rabbit Moon,” inspired by the ancient Chinese myth of a jade rabbit living on the moon.
“China has one of the oldest and most amazingly deep and sophisticated cultures, and I’m visually fascinated by this,” said Cleaver, who is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Designers.
The graphic designer noted that his Chinese zodiac sign is the monkey, and said that the monkey characteristics describe him well, and he calls himself the “Fire Monkey.”
This photo is British graphic designer Phil Cleaver’s work “Rabbit Moon,” which was submitted to the 2023 World Zodiac Design Competition sponsored by the Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchange Center. (Distributed via Beijing Overseas Cultural Exchange Center/Xinhua News Agency)
He loves Chinese food and says he goes to China two or three times a year. “I’m fascinated by old Chinese culture. It’s like a bottomless pit of visual enjoyment,” he said.
Explaining what inspired him to create the work for the 2023 and 2024 World Zodiac Design Competition, he said, “I feel like[Chinese culture]is an untapped resource visually,” and said that both added that his work pays homage to the past and inspires the future.
Cleaver noted a comparison between Western and Chinese dragons, noting that while the two types of dragons have some similarities in the way they are depicted, Chinese culture prefers dragons more than the concept of beasts prevalent in Western culture. He said that he believed that the two had far superior properties.
The Global Zodiac Design Competition is a representative cultural event co-sponsored by the Beijing Culture and Tourism Bureau and the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
This year’s works, which are themed around Chinese dragons, will be exhibited in various cities in China, as well as at the Vinche International Carnival and Mask Museum in Belgium, and at Helsinki Airport in Finland until the end of February. ■