On September 9, 2026, The New · The Classic, a solo exhibition by contemporary porcelain artist Heinrich Wang, officially opened at Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai.
As sculptural contemporary porcelain enters a landmark shaped by nearly a century of history, a dialogue unfolds—between tradition and innovation, and between the present moment and the classics of the future.
Heinrich Wang’s porcelain art exhibition The New · The Classic officially opens at Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai.
At the opening, Wang reflected on the histories of both Fairmont Peace Hotel and his own creative practice, considering how the “new” may withstand the passage of time and become a future “classic.”
“Fairmont Peace Hotel belongs to architecture, public life and lived experience; my porcelain belongs to the making of objects, individual expression and culture.
Though these two paths differ, they ultimately converge upon the same question in the evolution of civilisation: how do we respect the past while having the courage to create something new—and allow it to endure the test of time, becoming a classic of the future?”
— Heinrich Wang
Heinrich Wang’s Majestic Presence at the exhibition.
When a Century-Old Landmark Meets Contemporary Porcelain
When Fairmont Peace Hotel opened in 1929, its advanced architectural design and distinctive Art Deco style made it a modern symbol of Shanghai’s engagement with the world. In its time, the hotel represented something decidedly “new.”
Nearly a century later, having witnessed the transformation of the city and the passage of generations, Fairmont Peace Hotel has become a cultural icon of Shanghai. Yet its status as a “classic” has never left it frozen in history. Its refined hospitality and continually evolving approach to the art of living have allowed the building to retain a vivid contemporary presence.
When Heinrich Wang first arrived in Shanghai, his company was located near the hotel. Drawn by its reputation, he stayed there on several occasions. At first, he was captivated by the building’s graceful sense of history. Over time, he came to appreciate a quality that rewarded repeated contemplation—each visit revealed something new.
For Wang, Fairmont Peace Hotel embodies the relationship between the “new” and the “classic”:
What is new today may become the classic of tomorrow.
At The New · The Classic, contemporary porcelain enters into dialogue with the historic interiors of Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai.
The exhibition is also an important part of Fairmont Peace Hotel Art Week. Responding to this year’s theme, “Peace Art Realm: A Tribute to the Contemporary,” The New · The Classic brings contemporary porcelain into a century-old landmark, creating a conversation between history and the present, Eastern aesthetics and contemporary creativity.
Opening to Music and Applause
On the afternoon of September 9, pianist Xie Jingxian opened the event with a performance on a Steinway piano, followed by the timeless sounds of Fairmont Peace Hotel’s legendary Old Jazz Band.
Amid music and applause, Heinrich Wang’s porcelain art exhibition The New · The Classic officially opened.
Piano and jazz performances at the opening of The New · The Classic.
During the opening, Wang personally shared with guests the cultural references, formal considerations and technical challenges behind his works. His presentation invited the audience to move beyond simply viewing the objects and step more deeply into the artist’s creative world.
Heinrich Wang shares the ideas behind his work with guests at the exhibition opening.
Heinrich Wang: From Glass Art to Contemporary Porcelain
Heinrich Wang’s artistic journey has been shaped by a willingness to begin again.
Early in his career, he devoted himself to glass, seeking to move the material beyond industrial production and into the realm of art, while exploring a crystalline beauty rooted in Chinese culture.
After the age of fifty, Wang embarked on another new beginning. Starting from the fundamentals, he turned his attention to porcelain and founded NewChi in 2003.
During high-temperature firing, porcelain clay shrinks, cracks, softens and deforms. These material constraints make it exceptionally difficult to achieve broad surfaces, precise angles and suspended structures with consistency.
Wang chose to confront these limitations directly.
Through repeated experimentation with materials, structures, proportions and firing conditions, he expanded porcelain beyond its established forms. His works are no longer merely functional vessels. They enter the space like sculptures—upright, assured and confident—telling stories that belong to the present.
Traditional ritual vessels, classical garden architecture, auspicious symbolism and the spiritual ideals of Chinese culture are reorganised within his work and transformed into a crisp, articulate and distinctly contemporary visual language.
These works are not reproductions of classical forms. They are Heinrich Wang’s contemporary response to tradition.
Featured Works from The New · The Classic
Majestic Presence: A Vessel of Benevolence, Dignity and Grace
Majestic Presence combines the image of two rams with the form of the traditional Chinese ceremonial zun vessel. The goodwill, harmony and auspiciousness symbolised by the ram correspond with the ritual order and reverence embodied by the zun.
The two rams form the principal structure of the work and unite with its central body to create a stable and complete composition. Its broad, expansive silhouette does not impose through severity. Instead, it conveys dignity, composure and quiet confidence.
Work details: Heinrich Wang | White porcelain | 2011 | 34.2 × 20.2 × 26.4 cm | Limited edition of 222
Spring Breeze: Culture Is Not Decoration, but the Foundation That Allows One to Stand Tall
The soaring central body of Spring Breeze recalls a scholar standing with confidence and dignity. Its outward-extending forms draw inspiration from the lattice windows of traditional Chinese gardens.
Within the garden, a window does more than separate inside from outside: it connects people with nature. Light, scenery and passing figures create ever-changing relationships through its frame.
Spring Breeze continues this spatial idea, using porcelain to reinterpret the relationship between culture, personal cultivation and individual bearing.
The confidence expressed by the work is not the confidence of standing conspicuously before others. It comes from having something substantial behind oneself—a cultural foundation that allows one to stand with stability, ease and integrity.
Work details: Heinrich Wang | White porcelain | 64.5 × 25.2 × 37.7 cm | Limited edition of 6
Opening Harmony: Finding Balance Between the Square and the Circle
The Chinese title Kaitai expresses a wish for stability, prosperity and the opening of a promising new chapter.
Through the contrast between square and circle, strength and softness, order and movement, the work explores forces that both balance and complete one another. Its precise structure retains a sense of warmth, while the porcelain’s delicate surface softens its rational geometric order.
This harmony between square and circle is more than a formal consideration. It also reflects upon a way of living: true harmony does not require differences to disappear, but allows contrasting forces to find their appropriate place.
Glory Across Directions: Giving Traditional Spirit a Contemporary Presence
The dragon is one of the most powerful and enduring spiritual symbols in Chinese culture.
Rather than simply reproducing a traditional motif, Glory Across Directions uses contemporary form and porcelain structure to express strength, expansion and forward movement.
Symbolic meaning is transformed into a form that can be seen, experienced and placed within a contemporary environment. Tradition is therefore not merely preserved; it continues to participate in the life of the present.
Discover Glory Across Directions
Drifting Clouds: Flowing Between Control and Nature
Clouds have no fixed form, yet they continually respond to air currents and their surrounding environment.
Drifting Clouds captures in porcelain a moment that appears to flow freely, finding a balance between precisely controlled craftsmanship and naturally unfolding form.
Behind its visual lightness lies an exacting understanding of materials, centre of gravity and deformation during high-temperature firing. What appears effortless is, in fact, the result of years of accumulated experience.
In Balance: Auspiciousness Found Within Equilibrium
In Balance draws upon the traditional Chinese cosmological idea of a round heaven and square earth. Through the relationships between square and circle, curve and line, strength and softness, the work reconsiders how auspiciousness may take form in contemporary life.
Its full, rounded centre symbolises heaven, qi and the vital energy flowing within. The stable, rectilinear structure surrounding it represents the earth, order and support.
Auspiciousness is not simply good fortune that arrives by chance. It is the balance gradually created through every choice we make.
Work details: Heinrich Wang | White porcelain | 26.1 × 15.6 × 26 cm | Limited edition of 99
The New Moves an Era Forward; the Classic Allows Value to Endure
Over the course of nearly a century, Fairmont Peace Hotel has offered its own answer to the question of how the “new” becomes the “classic.”
Heinrich Wang continues to seek his answer through porcelain clay, fire and form. For him, creation is not about reproducing classics that have already been recognised. It is about approaching time with innovation that is both sincere and courageous—and proposing new possibilities for the future.
As he stated at the opening:
“The new moves an era forward; the classic allows value to endure.”
The New · The Classic is more than an exhibition of porcelain works. It is an encounter between contemporary art and a century-old architectural landmark.
Even for those unable to visit Shanghai in person, the works and images from the exhibition offer a glimpse into how Heinrich Wang frees porcelain from conventional forms, establishing a distinctly contemporary presence between traditional culture, modern design and artistic creation.
Exhibition Information
Heinrich Wang Porcelain Art Exhibition
THE NEW · THE CLASSIC
Exhibition period: September 9–October 8, 2026
Opening hours: Daily, 12:00–20:00
Venue: Lobby and Cin Cin Bar, 2F, Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai
The exhibition area in the hotel lobby is open to the public. Admission to the Cin Cin Bar exhibition area on the second floor requires advance reservation and a valid admission pass.
Opening hours and admission arrangements are subject to on-site announcements.
Learn More: Discover the Artist Heinrich Wang
