Swatch Art Peace Hotel Celebrates 15th Anniversary With Six Artist Collaborations

by · WWD
Works by Chinese artists to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel residency program.Courtesy

Swatch is turning one of its boldest brand experiments — a fully fledged artist residency on Shanghai’s historic Bund — into an exclusive collection.

Launched 15 years ago at the storied Peace Hotel, the Swatch Art Peace Hotel artist residency project is celebrating its anniversary with a capsule collection built around six Chinese artists who passed through the program.

“The Swatch Art Peace Hotel is our art icon, filled with life, spirit of fun and positive provocation,” said Nick Hayek, chief executive officer of Swatch Group. “There is creativity in everything and everywhere you look. It’s open to everybody. That’s the message of Swatch, the substance of the place, and this philosophy vibrates through every part of the hotel,” Hayek added.

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Han Feng, Luo Bi, Green Lava, Wang Shuai, Yu Yang and Feng Bin.COurtesy

The six artists tapped for the project span discipline, medium and generation, which is reflected in the watches they designed. Virtual and 3D artist Luo Bi created “Digi-blossoming,” imagining a world beyond the human realm enlivened by flowers; Feng Bin, recognized for his ceramic paintings that explore contemporary Chinese culture, created “Bund-tastic” as an ode to the Bund’s architectural marvels; Han Feng, the painter and collage artist, used Chinese ink drawing aesthetics to create “Flowering Plum,” which captures a delicate plum blossom moment; graffiti artist Green Lava created “Street Eye” to celebrate the lively energy of the urban world; Wang Shuai, known for her abstract drawings using black-and-white lines, interpreted her work “Thirty Thousand Lines,” conceived during her residency, into a watch design, and Yu Yang, another graffiti artist, blended traditional Chinese culture and Western pop culture in “Blow Away,” which features Chinese messages and blessings on its wristband.

Guided by each artist’s distinctive vision, the six timepieces first hit shop floors in China on Sept. 15, followed by a global rollout from Sept. 24, both in stores and online.