Cover Yang Song’s ‘Kun’, comprising thousands of 0.1mm steel wires, is at the entrance plaza of Hangzhou MixC. (Photo: courtesy of Hangzhou MixC)
Yang Song’s ‘Kun’, comprising thousands of 0.1mm steel wires, is at the entrance plaza of Hangzhou MixC. (Photo: courtesy of Hangzhou MixC)
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Artist Yang Song, the Hangzhou MixC shopping mall and the Hong Kong Palace Museum bring museum-grade narratives out of glass cases and into the public sphere
Anchored at the entrance plaza of Hangzhou MixC, a retail landmark in the Zhejiang capital, a textile-inspired installation formed by thousands of 0.1-millimetre steel wires, catches and refracts ambient light as visitors move past.
Entitled Kun, a reference to an enormous sea creature in Chinese mythology, artist Yang Song’s kinetic light installation is a stylish, minimalist interpretation of ancient textile craft. It is the visual centrepiece for Weave the MixC, a cross-city cultural initiative co-presented by the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) and the high-end shopping complex.
Springing from the creative wellspring of the HKPM’s Chris Hall Collection, which spans textiles from the Warring States period (475–221 BC) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), Yang’s design relies on the structural metaphor of “warp and weft”—the two basic components in weaving—to link Hangzhou and Hong Kong. Historically, Hangzhou was China’s inland silk capital, while Hong Kong was a vital maritime trading port and a 20th-century textile manufacturing centre.
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Above The minimalist structure uses light, which Yang terms “flowing photons”, to connect the heritage of Hangzhou and Hong Kong. (Photo: courtesy of Hangzhou MixC)
The minimalist structure uses light, which Yang terms “flowing photons”, to connect the heritage of Hangzhou and Hong Kong. (Photo: courtesy of Hangzhou MixC)
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“Hangzhou, as a city rooted in a millennium of history, is the warp—the vertical thread held steady on the loom, providing the foundation for the weave,” Yang explains in an interview with Tatler. “Hong Kong is the weft: its position is unfixed and carried by the back-and-forth shuttle across the sea—the very movement that gave rise to the Maritime Silk Road.”
By replacing physical yarn with flowing photons, Kun explores continuous transformation, balancing structural discipline with fluid movement. As Yang puts it, “Order provides the skeleton, while our soul freely travels.”
When Hangzhou MixC, which hosts the installation, opened in 2010, its surroundings were largely tidal flats and farmland. Today, the area has transformed into the city’s central business district. Marking its 16th anniversary, the development chose to anchor its celebrations in Chinese textile history.
The mall’s general manager Cynthia Li says modern shoppers, especially luxury consumers, increasingly seek cultural depth and emotional resonance in their retail experiences. “The most precious quality of a commercial space is precisely its everydayness,” she says. “When culture enters this daily path, it moves from [museum halls] into life and becomes a relatable and immersive urban experience that coexists with the city’s everyday rhythm”.
Above ‘Kun’, the visual centrepiece of ‘Weave the MixC’, was unveiled on September 12, 2026. (Photo: courtesy of Hangzhou MixC)
‘Kun’, the visual centrepiece of ‘Weave the MixC’, was unveiled on September 12, 2026. (Photo: courtesy of Hangzhou MixC)
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Weave the MixC also sees brands including Ferragamo, Self-Portrait, Bebe, Frédéric Malle and Chinese designer house AW Project curating thematic content and displays throughout the mall.
For the HKPM, this collaboration offers a new model for engaging the public with art without compromising curatorial standards. The museum has also presented pop-ups in Shanghai and Foshan.
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“This is our first attempt at presenting an exhibition without actual objects from our collection—just ideas and images,” says HKPM director Louis Ng, referring to the curatorial displays and panels surrounding Kun. “It explores new possibilities [as to how we] take our ideas to different cities, without boundaries, and reach out to different audiences.”
At the heart of the project’s narrative is the collection of Chris Hall, a Hong Kong-based lawyer who spent more than four decades building one of the world’s most significant private collections of Chinese textiles, comprising nearly 3,000 rare silk artefacts spanning two millennia.
Above The Chris Hall Collection provided the curatorial foundation for ‘Weave the MixC’. (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
The Chris Hall Collection provided the curatorial foundation for ‘Weave the MixC’. (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
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Hall argues that historic fabrics possess an innate power to democratise art history because they require no specialised academic background to enjoy.
“When people look at textiles, everyone can appreciate it,” he says. “If you’ve got a beautiful garment, [people] can fall in love with it without knowing anything about silk, without knowing how to sew ... You can bring people into heritage without them knowing anything about textiles or heritage before.”
The project also taps into the growing enthusiasm among younger generations for traditional Chinese aesthetics, driven by the Guochao movement, a contemporary cultural phenomenon characterised by national pride and the embrace of Chinese culture. With the average age of HKPM visitors hovering around 33, Ng emphasises the importance of making ancient craftsmanship accessible to all generations.
Above The Chris Hall Collection spans from the Warring States period to the Qing dynasty. (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
The Chris Hall Collection spans from the Warring States period to the Qing dynasty. (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum)
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He adds that HKPM has partnered with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University to establish a joint education centre, allowing students in design, fashion and humanities to conduct research using the Chris Hall Collection.
Crucially, the HKPM views initiatives like Weave the MixC as part of a strategic shift towards actively exporting Chinese culture internationally. Hall’s collection features rare 6th to 9th-century Tang dynasty silks worn by the Sogdians, an ancient Iranian people, which have drawn keen interest from global institutions, including museums in Uzbekistan.
“The collection is living heritage, and it can forever be appreciated, generation after generation,” Ng says. By interweaving history, art and retail, the collaboration demonstrates how ancient craft can remain an active, visible thread in modern civic life.
Cyril Ip is the Features Editor at Tatler Hong Kong, where he shapes digital strategy, curates long-form features and drives trending cultural coverage across multi-platform digital experiences. He writes about culture, society and self-development. Having lived and worked across Hong Kong, mainland China and the UK, he brings a multifaceted background that spans media, music and publicity—including a four-year tenure as a culture and diplomacy journalist at the South China Morning Post.
