The UK's first major display of Chinese contemporary studio craft has opened at London’s famous V&A museum in South Kensington. The display, called Dimensions, features 80 objects from modern makers who have reimagined traditional practices to find new avenues of artistic expression. 

The craftwork includes textiles, sculpture and ceramics and reflects different generations and styles. The objects are placed alongside the permanent displays of historic pieces.

Curator Li Xiaoxin spent five years building the collection of pieces from across China.

"I want people to come into the museum, not just thinking of China as a culture that is only in the distant past and that China's objects were only brilliant in the Yuan, Ming and Qing periods," said Li.

"I want them to see the latest developments, the very creative works that have kept coming out of China in the last decades or so."

One of the most striking pieces is a textile sculpture called She's Bestowed Love. Its artist Fanglu Lin, winner of the prestigious LOEWE Collection Craft Prize, drew on the intricate tie-dye practices she learned when living with the Bai ethnic minority in Yunnan province. She says the piece represents the hidden sacrifices of women.

"This one is about love, like women's warmest love and blood", Fanglu Lin told CGTN Europe. "My memory is my family. My mom, my grandma, they gave me a lot of love for me."

In the 1980s, Chinese artists began to reimagine the craft as a medium for self-expression and ceramics also make up a key part of the collection.

As well as works that appeal to traditional collectors, the displays also feature many younger artists whose work attracts a different audience.

"A lot of these young makers have their accounts or profiles on platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin," says curator Li. "They talk about their work – and also, with live streaming they can create a real-time environment to talk to their fans and followers. So it's a very different way of craft collecting."

The V&A houses one of the most comprehensive collections of Chinese art and design outside East Asia, with objects dating from 3000 BC. Dimensions is on display until September 17, 2026, and it’s hoped that this collection will help open doors to understanding contemporary China.