Dunhill is forging ties with China’s vibrant art world via a partnership with West Bund Art & Design, a leading art fair based in Shanghai.
The brand will sponsor this year’s West Bund Voice Forums, which are slated to run from Nov. 13 to 16 at the West Bund Dome.
The gathering will feature international artists, writers and cultural figures for a series of discussions. Topics will run the gamut from art collecting, cultural community initiatives, and heritage and innovation in design, the brand unveiled in a press release.
The partnership presents a local iteration of creative director Simon Holloway’s fascination and connection to the art world.
Holloway’s first collection for Dunhill was staged at London’s National Portrait Gallery’s Duveen Wing. Since last year, Dunhill has supported the Frieze Master Talks series. Last year, the partnership was extended until 2026.
To inaugurate the event, Dunhill hosted an intimate talk at the historic Shanghai Club by the Bund, which counts as one of the city’s earliest gentlemen’s club.
Themed “In the Depth of Blossoms, Perceiving Mountains and Waters,” the talk featured Chinese artist Qiu Anxiong in conversation with Jin Yucheng, a literary master who wrote the genre-defining “Blossoms Shanghai,” which was later adapted into a hit TV show directed by Wang Kar-wai.
Jin Yucheng and Simon Holloway at the launch dinner in Shanghai.
Courtesy
“Our sensibility of impeccable quality is deeply connected to high culture. We believe in exceptional taste that endures — a value profoundly aligned with that of art,” said Holloway.
Established in 2014, West Bund Art & Design brings together over 100 top galleries from Asia, Europe, and the Americas each year.
Last year, its forum series hosted 61 speakers from 12 countries for 16 discussions featuring guests such as the Swiss diplomat and art collector Uli Sigg, cofounder of Shang Xia Jiang Qiong Er, and the French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian.
Shanghai’s November art week, which evolves around two major art fairs — including West Bund Art & Design and the more commercial-savvy Art021 — will include over a hundred events dispersed throughout the city.
According to the latest 2024 Global Art Market Report published by Art Basel and UBS, China is the third-largest art market in the world.