Pop singer’s new store to promote culture
Sun Nan, one of China’s most popular singers, fell in love with traditional art and culture and established the Sun Nan Life brand in Shanghai to share his passion with the public.
The Sun Nan Life boutique store opened on the Bund on July 19. The event featured calligraphy artist Zhang Guoqiang, who created inscriptions on ceramic objects.
“We plan to present a work of art or craft from China’s intangible cultural heritage here every month, such as purple clay pottery, tea culture and so on,” says Fu Yong, the company’s CEO.
Sun Nan Life also introduced its boutique hotel chain the same day, where the decor will feature traditional aesthetics and offer Chinesestyle service.
Sun couldn’t attend the launches in person as he was performing on tour. The singer and songwriter has been active in China’s pop music scene since the 1990s, with millions of albums sold, and is a frequent performer at the Chinese New Year gala shows on State broadcaster CCTV. He shared his stories of falling in love with traditional art via a video link with the media.
Sun has four children from two marriages. The kids previously attended international schools in Beijing where the emphasis was placed on freedom, but they needed to learn more about other aspects of life, he says.
nourishment from classical Chinese culture made an impact on their understanding of life,” Sun says of a summer camp on traditional culture his children attended last year.
Sun then made the decision to move his home from Beijing to Xuzhou in East China’s Jiangsu province, where his children joined Huaxia Xuegong, a school that focuses on traditional art and culture. His children have now developed an interest in Chinese literary classics, traditional paintings and musical instruments.
“My children attend the school, my wife teaches handicraft there and I am a volunteer, teaching two music classes every week.”
With his youngest daughter Aibo, who will turn 7 in Sepon tember, Sun is making a cartoon series on Chinese literary classics.
Many of China’s ancient crafts are dying gradually, but he says he hopes they won’t disappear entirely.
“I hope more people will learn about them and pass them on to future generations.”
The first artist to be exhibited at the new Sun Nan Life boutique store, Zhang has been practicing calligraphy for 40 years. A few years ago, he moved to Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, also in the country’s east. Zhang began his new life in the city, which is known as the “ceramics capital” of China, by working his calligraphy on porcelain.
“It is a traditional craft with more than 1,000 years of histo“The ry, and it is more colorful today and the experience more enriching, thanks to modern tools and techniques,” Zhang says.
Hard metallic knives have made it possible for him to create different curves on the surface of ceramic items.
“I can also make inscriptions in the clay before it is baked,” he says. “But whatever new technique is used, the core values of Chinese calligraphy remain the same.”
Xu Mingsong, a Shanghaibased art critic, says Zhang has created calligraphy primarily on small objects such as teacups and paperweights.
“These everyday items have been a precious part of ancient cultural traditions,” Xu says. “They have inspired artists and scholars.”