The Cultural and Creative Industries Expo opened yesterday with an emphasis on WKU’s products

The 2017 International Fashion Cultural and Creative Industries Expo opened in the Wenzhou International Convention Center on the morning of March 23. Jiangyong Zhou, the municipal party secretary, Geng Zhang, the vice secretary and mayor of Wenzhou, and Jianjin Hu, a member of the standing committee and information minister, attended the opening ceremony yesterday. The exhibition space for Wenzhou-Kean University was located in the No. 6 Pavilion and attracted many visitors.

David Purnell, the vice dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at WKU recited the following two lines in Chinese:

Sitting beside the glorious sea

we call you little Hangzhou.

and student ambassador Minhui Lou, a junior student from WKU recited in English. Dean Purnell, a native English speaker, recited with clear articulation and a mellow full tune, while Lou, a native Chinese student, recited flawlessly.

The exhibition area was filled with creations produced by WKU students and teachers including a video produced by the campus GIS* (Geographic Information System), as well as various works of art and design and large-scale 3D paintings. The exhibition showcased the unique originality of WKU students.

*A geographic information system (or GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data.

Wikipedia contributors. “Geographic information system.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 Mar. 2017. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Zhongjun Jiang is a tourism professional who loves drawing beautiful landscapes in Wenzhou with his pen. He was impressed by students’ design of a totem pole and said that he would like to paint the landscape of WKU if possible.

The most popular activity at the exhibition was the one that gave visitors the opportunity to recolor students’ prints. Guido Alvarez, a professor of graphic design, along with his students created a batch of prints specially for the Expo. The prints integrated the letters “WKU” and the stylized Chinese symbols representing the year of the rooster. Visitors could choose the color they liked and use their imagination to transform the original black outlines on white paper into their unique creations, just like a coloring book. After coloring, they could take the finished product home as a souvenir.

The exhibition area filled with people coloring was a highlight of the Expo. More than 30 pieces of work had been purchased by one o’clock—with still hours many hours left before the end of the Expo.

“I couldn’t believe these prints were made by students. They are so artistic and meaningful,” exclaimed African student Yolanda who happily took one of them.

In addition, the first released campus GIS and the live feed of WKU campus helped people to learn more about Wenzhou-Kean University. Many asked about the admission policies and undergraduate education, expressing their preferences to apply to WKU.

Wenzhou Cultural and Creative Industries Expo, themed “Creativity, Lights the Life,” will end on March 27. The content of the exhibition can be described as “1+4”: a thematic exhibition displayed in Wenzhou International Exhibition Center with four supporting activities which are a “Ou Yue craftsmen” thematic show, a Ou Hai fashion town, the Wenzhou cultural and economic forum, and Wenzhou cultural industry project investment and financial activities.

Translated by Zhu Peiqi, Sun Wanxin and Lou Zongxiang

Edit by Gary Linebarger