Exhibition View of NO WAVE: Exhibition and Report on Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era
Chinese characters have served as carriers of culture and art for thousands of years, and they have also played an irreplaceable role in consolidating the national consensus, promoting excellent traditional culture, and enhancing cultural confidence. In recent years, with the successive waves of artificial intelligence and digitization, Chinese characters, as the “super symbols” embodying Chinese civilization, have once again confronted with a new context. In the wave of AI, Chinese characters are not merely objects of design but they are also the underlying algorithms of design intelligence, therefore they can be both the subject and method of creation. So, how can we inspire innovation through inheritance and explore new possibilities through transformation, enabling Chinese characters to bring about new expression and aesthetic systems in the digital context? How to “return to the fundamental answer while addressing contemporary realities” is not only a focal point for the practitioners of design education and designers, but it also concerns the exploration and experimentation by the younger generation, representing the historical mission that the entire industry bears.
Exhibition View of NO WAVE: Exhibition and Report on Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era
In October 2025, a design-LAB exhibition titled “NO WAVE” is presented at NEEDART and it features design practices around poetics of Chinese characters. The exhibition as the final presentation of the course “Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era” at the CAFA School of Design, comprehensively showcases young designers’ reflections and experiments on the current state and future trends of Chinese typography. Supported by the Beijing Culture and Art Fund, it is hosted by the Central Academy of Fine Arts, organized by the CAFA School of Design, and co-organized by Weizhi Education Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Rong Brand (Beijing Zhirong Culture Co., Ltd.). Since the program was launched, young designers from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region actively applied, and 30 participants were selected for senior training. This exhibition is precisely a concentrated report of their intensive learning through the three major course modules: “Typography of Steles”, “Cultural Tribute”, and “Cultural and Creative Revitalization”. More than 30 groups of innovative works of Chinese typography, integrating AI technology, open-source concepts, and cultural insights, demonstrate the limitless possibilities of Chinese typography in the AI era.
The Group Photo at the Opening for NO WAVE: Exhibition and Report on Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era
Chinese Typography Course: Teaching of the Poetics of Text
Chinese Fonts Design Course: Teaching Chinese Characters as a Method
“NO WAVE” is not a traditional display of educational achievements, but rather a “live performance” with Chinese characters as its medium. It echoes the improvisation and experimentation of experimental music in the 20th century: beyond mainstream, yet generating new creative energy through layering, friction, and resonance. These works encompass experimental typefaces, dynamic texts, text-based art, publications, installations, and cultural and creative products. They take Chinese characters—a symbolic system carrying thousands of years of civilization—as their starting point for interdisciplinary creative practice. By deeply exploring the aesthetic genes of traditional Chinese calligraphy and actively employing cutting-edge technologies such as new media and AI, these designers enable characters to transcend from mere carriers of information to a comprehensive artistic language that integrates visual expression, cultural reflection, and social engagement, linking a complete chain from cultural origins to technological pathways and further public applications.
Gan Xinyao's The Nature of Snow White
Cheng Can's Artistic Youth
Li Juan's Taking a Stroll on the Streets
Hong Meiling's Listening to the Wind for Two Hours
Zhao Qiyang's Then I Understand What You Mean
Xie Xuequan's I Read the Text, the Text Reads Me
Li Yangyi's Divinely Blessed Transformation of Fortune
Active designers in the field of Chinese typography featured in “NO WAVE” include: Chai Yuwei, Cheng Can, Du Tiantian, Fan Shibo, Gan Xinyao, Gao Yihua, Guo Yanan, Hong Meiling, Jin Yizhen, Li Juan (Dapu Culture), Li Juan (Guangzhou University), Li Sihui, Li Yangyi, Liu Shuiqing, Liu Xiaoyu, Liu Zihao, Shi Xiaolin, Sun Ming, Sun Youqiang, Tu Yan, Wang Beining, Wang Ying, Xie Xuequan, Xu Kun, Yin Pengfei, Zhang Beinan, Zhang Liguo, Zhao Qiyang, Zheng Guoxiang, and Zhuang Jiaxuan. Their works highlight contemporary reinterpretations of classical texts, experiments in deconstructing Chinese characters, explorations of the relationship between language and power, or the design of innovative typefaces. Together, all of which form a vivid panorama that highlights the profound historical lineage and spiritual charm of Chinese characters, clearly revealing a future full of infinite possibilities.
The Group Photo of “Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era” Funded by the Beijing Culture and Art Fund
The research and teaching achievements by the mentor team are also specially showcased in the exhibition. The participation of scholars and designers such as Chen Nan, Hang Hai, Lin Cunzhen, Liu Yanhum, Wang Min, Wang Ziyuan, Yan Yongliang, Zhao Jian, Zhou Bo, and Zhu Zhiwei ensured that the project achieves results not only in practices but it also generates reflective academic literature in theory and methodology, encouraging more people to appreciate the beauty of Chinese typography and engage in discussions about the future of writing.
Exhibition of Mentors' Works and Literature
Joint Display of Works by Mentors and Participants
Professor Jiang Hua, the instructor of “Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era”, concluded this exploration into a sentence: “Return to the fundamental answer while addressing contemporary realities”. This means that the exploration must be proceeded in two directions: tracing back to uncover the inherent potential of Chinese characters; and reaching outward to embrace new tools such as open-source collaboration and AI, thereby carving a path of “renewal through returning to the roots”. Therefore, “Typography of Steles”, “Cultural Tribute”, and “Cultural and Creative Revitalization” are not isolated sections, but interconnected and progressively evolving parts of a whole. Together, they question and respond to the same key theme: in the AI era, how can typography avoid becoming shallow stylistic imitation? How can cultural heritage transcend mere symbol transfer? And how can innovation genuinely generate value for society and spiritual values within the context of the AI era?
Professor Jiang Hua and mentor Liu Zhizhi shared, discussed the students' works with the participants.
“Chinese characters are not just objects of design, but also the subjects of creation and the source of Chinese design wisdom,” said Professor Jiang Hua. He also reminded us, “In this era of rapid technological iteration, it is even more necessary to reflect on the unique value of Chinese characters as carriers of Eastern wisdom.” Therefore, this exhibition is more than a presentation of the staged achievements by 30 participants and it is also a declaration about the “future of writing”: in the AI era, cultivating typography innovators who possess both an open-source spirit, technological literacy, and cultural heritage is a key step in establishing a self-directed discourse in Chinese design. The practices of these young creators also demonstrate that Chinese typography can not only respond to the changes of the AI era but also potentially participate in shaping the future form of civilization. By exhibiting the results of the first group of “open-source innovative talent,” the exhibition intends, from a longer-term perspective, to build a branded, regular, and continuously evolving academic and experimental platform and further to create a broadly participatory innovation ecosystem. The successful hosting of the exhibition has become a landmark event in the field of Chinese typography, providing an excellent example for exploring self-directed innovation, disciplinary reconstruction, and discourse system construction in Chinese typography in the context of globalization and digitization, allowing Chinese characters to find new ways of expression and creative energy in the contemporary context.
Exhibition View of NO WAVE: Exhibition and Report on Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era
About the Exhibition
No Wave: Exhibition and Report on Cultivating Open-Source Innovative Talent in Chinese Typography in the AI Era
Dates: September 30-November 7, 2025
Venue: NEEDART, Wangjing Xiaojie, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Text (CN) edited by Wang Yuwen, Zhang Beinan, Mengxi, (EN) edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO
Image Courtesy of the Organizer.
