Recently, the 2025 World Design Cities Conference (WDCC 2025) was held in Shanghai. The representative achievement of the Key Laboratory of Digital Protection and Intelligent Development of Ethnic Cultural Resources in Yunnan Province of the Design School, Yunnan Arts University (YNAU), titled "Boundless Yunnan – Digitization of Yunnan's Intangible Cultural Heritage," was exhibited.
The Key Laboratory of Digital Protection and Intelligent Development of Ethnic Cultural Resources in Yunnan Province (hereinafter referred to as the "Laboratory") has collaborated with Shanghai University to establish the "Design Collaborative Community Initiative." The exhibition, themed "Boundless Yunnan, Rebirth of Ancient Charm," aims to enable the audience to transcend the screen and experience a vivid, multidimensional, and boundary-free representation of Yunnan's intangible cultural heritage through digital interpretation. The exhibition primarily encompassed the following three aspects.
1
"Blue Hues of Yunnan Tie-dyeing Techniques," A New Path for the Inheritance of Intangible Cultural Heritage Tie-dyeing Craft Integrating Digital Technology
"Yunnan Tie-dyeing · Blue Hues" highlights the national intangible cultural heritage tie-dyeing techniques of Weishan in Dali, Yunnan. Through a digitally interactive experiential process, users can engage in an entertaining and educational journey of digital cultural heritage while experiencing traditional methods. Digital technology has converted offline experience into online interactions, with classic patterns incorporated into digital archives, achieving systematic organization and broad sharing. This effectively overcomes the limitations of traditional inheritance, allowing ancient crafts to radiate new brilliance in the digital era.
2
"Intelligent Embroidery of Yunnan" Digital Transformation of Yi Ethnic Costumes
"Intelligent Embroidery of Yunnan" focuses on the Yi ethnic costumes of Chuxiong, with digital modeling and parametric design at its core. By utilizing technologies such as 3D printing, it seeks breakthroughs in fabric, patterns, and forms, aiming to address fundamental issues in the digital transformation and design of ethnic costumes. It pushes the morphological boundaries of traditional textiles and explores the artistic expression of ethnic costume culture within contemporary fashion.
3
"Intelligent Creation of Yunnan Ceramics" Digital Transformation of Traditional Pottery Art
"Intelligent Creation of Yunnan Ceramics" focuses on representative Yunnan ceramics such as Jianshui purple pottery and Huaning pottery. Through the deep integration of 3D printing and artificial intelligence technologies, it has successfully achieved a digital design transformation for ceramic products, high-precision manufacturing, and the digital restoration of cultural relics, injecting new momentum into the upgrading and transformation of traditional ceramic arts.
The WDCC 2025 was co-organized by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government and UNESCO. Under the theme "Design Boosts Flourishing," the WDCC 2025 brings together global wisdom to fulfill its mission of "building a global platform for design innovation and cooperation, exploring new pathways for design-driven high-quality development, and promoting the integration of design in cities and everyday life." It aims to fully establish itself as a trendsetter in ecological design, a new paradigm for stylish living, and a source of industrial innovation, fostering shared development with the world's "creative cities."
