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Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture Exhibition

6 September 2019 in ARTS & CULTURE, SINGAPORE

Hello Friday! Here’s to a restful and wonderful weekend ahead for all of us! I wanted to share this post about the Guo Pei fashion exhibition in Singapore (till 15th September, visit it if you haven’t already done so!) since last month, but there’s just been a lot going on. Better late than never, right? So here’s sharing some inspiration for the weekend! :)

City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture

My sister and I are both enthusiasts of the arts and culture scene, particularly on the museums and make it a point to keep an eye on the exhibitions here in Singapore. I’ve noticed that the museums here have been making bigger strides in the last decade which I appreciate, but will say that sometimes, they simply can’t get it right (sorry). When they do, however, the results are excellent!

City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture

An example of this is the recent exhibition by the Asian Civilisations Museum, Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture, featuring a 29 piece selection of the Chinese fashion designer’s most well known works. As a huge fan of the designer, I was so excited to hear about this exhibition, and for the opportunity to get to see her creations up close and in person. The exquisite details, embroidery and beautiful design on each and every single piece are incredible!

City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
Traditional Chinese wedding attire for the bride
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
An updated, modernised version of traditional wedding attire
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
A wedding dress much closer to Western designs, but with the traditional red colour and embroidery intact. This fusion of cultural elements is so fascinating to me!

I thought the exhibition itself was curated pretty well by ACM, showcasing the designs in groups of works such as wedding gowns, flower themed, dragon themed, etc. The whole exhibition was kept very dark though, making all photos come out dark and some details like the matching shoes for each piece unclear for viewing – a pity. (If you’re thinking it was kept dark to protect the pieces, the thought crossed my mind too, but I saw videos of another recent Guo Pei exhibition in the US, and the lighting was a lot brighter, so I’m not sure what the darkness is for.)

City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture

That aside, I was so excited to see the world famous 黄皇后 gown (loosely translated as “Yellow Empress”) Rihanna wore to the 2015 Met Gala and the beautiful 大金 piece (loosely translated as “magnificent gold gown”) which I learned was considered a personal milestone for the designer, as she created it without worrying about the cost or whether it could sell. :)

City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
黄皇后
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
大金
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture

Personally, I’m a huge fan of almost all of Guo Pei’s designs, but I managed to narrow down my top two favourites in this exhibition: the 青花瓷 creation (translated as “blue and white porcelain”), inspired by blue and white Chinese porcelain pieces and the 宫花 piece (translated as “Palace Flower”), which has quite a story behind it. (Video link here where Guo Pei shares the story and effort behind creating this special piece.)

City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
青花瓷
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
宫花
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture

While browsing online, I came across this video of one of the designer’s fashion shows, and it showcases several pieces from this exhibition! :) I loved seeing the beautiful pieces in motion, so wanted to share it here too! 

City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture
City Girl City Stories- Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture

If you’re interested in hearing more from the designer, I really enjoyed watching this feature interview on Guo Pei by the Wall Street Journal and learning more about her story, inspirations and her career.

Overall, I’m very happy that we’re having such exciting exhibitions in Singapore this 2019 (see my post on the Wonderland exhibition here!) and I hope to see even more to come in the years ahead! 

Guo Pei: Chinese Art and Couture is exhibiting from 15 June to 15 September 2019 at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore.

Extra links:
> Exhibition webpage
> Guo Pei’s website, Facebook page and Instagram

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HELLO, I’M KYLENE

HELLO, I’M KYLENE

I’m a Hong Kong born, Singapore raised city girl. I have lived, studied and worked in both cities and am currently based in sunny Singapore. Welcome to my personal blog, where I share my city adventures. :)
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I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas! 🌟 H I hope you're having a wonderful Christmas! 🌟 Here is my Christmas diary in 10 snapshots. 🎄 As always, the full version is on citygirlcitystories.com 😊 

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year and once again, I can't believe 2022 is wrapping up so soon! Merry Christmas & happy holidays! 🌠
🌟 November 2022 diary 🌟 Doraemon exhibition 🌟 November 2022 diary 🌟 Doraemon exhibition at the National Museum of SG, Starbucks Christmas cups are such joy, snapping Christmas things around Singapore and attending a fashion show for the first time! November was great and full in every way, here's to December slowing down! 🎄
🌻 October 2022 photo diary 🌻 SMU park, city 🌻 October 2022 photo diary 🌻 SMU park, city views & HK milk tea, Istana Open House, cookies at home, night views.
[Latergram from the i Light Singapore 2022 festiva [Latergram from the i Light Singapore 2022 festival]

Singapore celebrates our National Day tomorrow! 🇸🇬

Found some snapshots from this year's return of light festival i Light 2022 to share Singapore beautifully lit up at night! 🎆
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