Many Meanings
Prada’s globetrotting social club, Prada Mode, is joining forces with the renowned Chinese film director Jia Zhangke for a twoday event in Shanghai.
On Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, Jia and Prada Mode will take over the Rong Zhai villa, the historic 20th-century mansion that was restored by the Italian house, to present a series of cultural programs. At its core is MIÀN, a project inspired by the director’s cinematic work.
“The word ‘miàn’ has over a dozen meanings in the Chinese dictionary,” said Jia, famous for films such as “Still Life,” “A Touch of Sin” and “Ash is Purest White.” “It can mean processed food made from ground wheat, a trajectory formed by a moving line in geometry, a meeting, a surface of things or a person’s face. MIÀN, in collaboration with Prada Mode Shanghai, will invite guests to explore some of the word’s many meanings.”
Divided into three parts, the first chapter, chī miàn/Noodle Eating, will connect guests with one of the earliest forms of food production through a demonstration of flour-making and cooking with flour, and include food samples for guests.
In the second chapter, bao miàn/Surface, Jia will invite guests to consider bodily autonomy through the lens of tattoo and disco, both pursuits of rebellion and liberation.
The third chapter, huì miàn/ Meeting, visits Shanghai’s history through a series of video interviews, inviting guests to move back through time in the elegant, historical surroundings of Prada Rong Zhai.
Prada Mode attendees will also be able to hear talks with leading cultural figures; view complimentary daily screenings — including a new short film by the director — held in a Eightiesera video hall, and to experience fine dining and cocktails inspired by the villa’s history and Jia’s own restaurant, Mountains May Depart, in Shanxi province. The actor Huang Jue has also been enlisted to curate the music with the villa’s ballroom refashioned as a Chinese disco hall from the Nineties for DJ sets and dancing every night.
The inaugural iteration of Prada Mode took place in Miami in late 2018 and since then the