Entertainment
Curating process behind Leica’s centennial celebration “Witness to a Century: When China Meets Leica”
Curating A Centennial Leica Story: Passion & Milestones
On July 26, Leica hosted an event to celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary at the Shanghai Postal Museum. The event was separated into two parts: the exhibition walk-through and an evening showcase. The exhibition was titled “Witness to a Century: When China meets Leica” and went on until August 25, along with a splendid array of Leica’s vintage cameras, lenses, precision components, photographs, magazine covers, and design sketches. The exhibition features works by pioneering Chinese Leica photographer Jin Shisheng, renowned photojournalist Wu Jialin, Pulitzer Prize winner Liu Heung Shing, Leica Hall of Fame laureate Steve McCurry, and Huang Jing – the first Chinese recipient of the LOBA Newcomer Award.
Immediately following the walkthrough was an amazing showcase. The showcase consisted of specially curated dances reiterating stories from past photographs, numerous videos dedicated to the past century of Leica’s company history, as well as speeches from Siegmund Dukek, CFO of Leica Camera in China, Dr Andreas Kaufmann (Chairman of the Supervisory Board), Matthias Harsch (CEO), Karin Rehn-Kaufmann (Art Director and Chief Representative of Leica Galleries International), and Max Kaufmann (son of Leica Camera Chairman). Leica’s headquarters in Germany and Shanghai office both attended the event, celebrating the company’s 100-year legacy.
Behind the grand celebration, the curating process of the event remained intriguing. Fortunately, Mr.Jason Bridge, Executive Director at SHINE Communications, the company in charge of curating, planning, and marketing the event, got to speak a few words with me.
“Leica is a legendary brand,” said Mr.Bridge, “The way they turned to technology, to amazing lenses, the fact that you can come in [to the exhibition] like this. It's incredible. We want to make sure that Leica's story is well told and that people come away from this kind of exhibition.”
After pitching the company’s plan to Leica’s team and CEO, they won the rare opportunity of representing a 100-year-old legendary brand. “Winning the pitch was the most memorable,” said Mr.Bridge, “we really wanted to be able to tell their story passionately to the world.”
Milestones were then set and met at each key point. Started by building trust with Leica in promises to deliver something special, the company took one step at a time: curating the exhibition, planning the showcase, hiring exhibition guides and volunteers, etc. “The first time visiting the site was quite emotional, to be honest,” Mr.Bridge added just before the event started, “We did a little Baisheng yesterday on stage with a cup. Hopefully, we’ve covered all the basics.”
However, there were challenges along the way, the biggest being working in the Shanghai Post Museum, a building 100 years old. They were driven to the sight due to its highly specific design and architectural elements, but how to highlight and utilize them in showing the synergy between 100 years of Leica and 100 years of this building was difficult.
“I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I am proud of the team,” Mr.Bridge said as he walked around the exhibition. “I hope people seeing the exhibition can learn something new about Leica and feel a bit closer to the brand. “
“Passion is our keyword,” Mr.Bridge continued, “look at the products, look at what goes into them, look at the design excellence. That all comes from the engineer's passion. Look at our team and how well it's worked and come together. That all comes from their passion. Even winning and being a client comes from our partner-level passion. So, we've got that passion all the way through.”
Continuing the passion and legacy of the legendary Leica, the event ended with applause and success. Crowds flourished days after the event to view the intricately curated exhibition. Although the exhibition may have an end date, passion has resonated throughout the past century, and will continue to echo through the next.