Turn the Front of Your Favorite Fangjia Venue Into a Canvas
The hutongs have never been just alleys and courtyards. They've also served as stone to be chiseled, clay to be molded, canvases to be splattered with colorful ideas and creations by Beijing's most creative entrepreneurs, artists, and event organizers. Now, as part of a new project called Eye-Dotting the Dragon, a half-dozen restaurants will take that bohemian spirit one step further, offering up their facades for prospective designers to scrawl their vibrant ideas upon.
To be clear: participants will draw their decorative designs on pictures of the restaurants first, then submit them for consideration, with only one winner's etchings to be selected for real-life use. Ramo, Antlers, and others are among the initial entrants to partake in the project (a full list is here).
The project is being coordinated by Nicole Chen, owner and operator of the artsy NC Space in the No. 46 Fangjia Courtyard. Chen dubbed the undertaking "Eye-Dotting the Dragon" in reference to an old Chinese fable about an artist who painted dragons on walls only to watch those creatures come to life and fly away whenever he made the crucial finishing touch: painting their eyes. A statement about the project explains that this time-honored parable is "used to describe how, when painting, writing or speaking, the addition of just one or two key brushstrokes, sentences, words or phrases can enhance the content."
Many trendy Beijingers have been dismayed to see lively hutongs like Fangjia threatened to the point of becoming a bygone legend just like the dragons in that parable. As a celebration of the alleyway businesses that have recently been bricked up and shut down, not to mention the venues that have been fortunate and resilient enough to survive, the Eye-Dotting the Dragon project is meant to help artists and admirers pay colorful tribute to the spirit of the hutongs.
The Eye-Dotting the Dragon project kicked off on July 22 with a hutong-themed photo exhibit at NC Space along with a guided tour of nearby alleys. A second guided tour will be held on July 29. And from now until July 31, applicants can submit their designs for one of the six participating hutong venues. From there, the received artworks will be posted on NC Space's WeChat account (ID: ncspace) for voting before the winner for each venue is decided.
Founder Nicole Chen
Chen says projects like this are crucial after all the tumult that hutong regulars have experienced as of late. Now, just like the spindly and arching back of a serpentine dragon taking flight, those long twisting alleyways will hopefully endure.
Chen says, "There has been a lot of uncertainty among all shop owners and customers in the hutongs after the city started its major renovation act [this year]," adding, "The unfinished facade of all the newly piled up brick walls shows people are still not sure about what will happen next ... So I thought we should try to give hutongs a modern look that meets the government requirements but also keeps the spirit of the old Beijing culture."
She adds that she is happy to see so many colorful applications thus far, and she is eagerly awaiting the final tallies and fully finished designs. "I'm glad I am receiving so much support now, and being the organizer of this project, I hope this won't be just 'one' project. I hope the concepts will evolve and let the hutong spirit move on with time. Long live the dragon!"
For more information about how to apply, click here and scan the QR code (the post is in Chinese), or email martin@ituojiang.com. Applications will be accepted until July 31. You can add NC Space's WeChat via ID: ncspace.
Photos: Nicole Chen
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