CHAO 100+1: Global Chinese Design Exhibition — Singapore
Graphic Design · Cultural Identity · Global Chinese NetworkProject Type
International Touring Exhibition / Cultural Design PlatformTime & Location
September 24–25, 2024
Nanyang Pho Leng Hui Kuan
26 Lor 27A Geylang, Singapore
Organizer
Chaozhou Art Museum
Jointly Organized by
Escape Arts Club SG
Co-organized by
Blue Cross Charitable Institution (Singapore)
Nanyang Pho Leng Hui Kuan
Curatorial Team
Chief Curators
Zhang Yi / Zeng Zhen
Curator (Singapore)
Cai Boxuan (Boosen Tsai)
Role
Curator (Singapore Stop)
Exhibition Coordination · Local Institutional Liaison · Team Management
Background
CHAO 100+1 is a global Chinese design initiative led by renowned designer Kan Tai-Keung (Jin Daiqiang), using the single Chinese character “潮” (Chao) as a conceptual anchor to explore cultural identity, migration, creativity, and contemporaneity within the global Chinese diaspora.
The project brings together over one hundred designers and artists from across China and overseas Chinese communities, presenting “潮” not merely as a linguistic symbol, but as a cultural condition—shaped by history, movement, and collective memory.
The Singapore stop functions as a key overseas node within this international touring exhibition network.
Description
The Singapore edition of CHAO 100+1 presented a curated selection of poster-based design works responding to the character “潮,” exhibited alongside Kan Tai-Keung’s seminal “Chao” ink-and-design works. Through typography, visual systems, abstraction, and cultural symbolism, the exhibition demonstrated how a single character can generate vastly different visual interpretations across regions and generations.
Rather than positioning “Chao” as a fixed regional marker, the exhibition reframed it as a dynamic cultural metaphor—bridging tradition and contemporary design practice, local identity and global circulation.
By situating the exhibition within a community-based cultural venue, the project emphasized design’s role as a medium for cultural transmission, dialogue, and collective recognition among overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.
Outcomes
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International touring exhibition with synchronized overseas venues
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Over 100 participating designers and artists worldwide
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Singapore edition hosted within a heritage-based community institution
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Strengthened cultural exchange between Chaozhou, Singapore, and the wider Chinese diaspora
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Media coverage and public engagement within local Chinese cultural circles