“The Way in Patterns: An Immersive Digital Exhibition by the Palace Museum” Opens in Suzhou

On January 7, 2025, “The Way in Patterns: An Immersive Digital Exhibition by the Palace Museum” opened at the special exhibition hall on the fourth floor of the Suzhou Bay Digital Art Museum. The exhibition is jointly organized by the Palace Museum, BOE Technology Group, and Tencent Group.

This is the first time that high-precision digital replicas of cultural relics from the Palace Museum have been exhibited in Suzhou. It is also the second collaboration between the Palace Museum and the Suzhou Bay Digital Art Museum following their 2023 immersive art exhibition “A Dream Journey through a Panorama of Rivers and Mountains.” Focusing on the theme of “The Way in Patterns,” the exhibition features 11 exhibition areas and emphasizes an immersive experience. Through cutting-edge technologies such as immersive rendering and image recognition, the collection showcases patterns from the Palace Museum’s architecture, ceramics, and textiles, blending cultural heritage with digital innovation.

During the exhibition, visitors can appreciate the way in which digital technology breathes new life into traditional patterns. In the central area of the exhibition hall, digital cultural relics are displayed in glasses-free 3D format, highlighting the dynamic beauty of patterns. The “Patterns of Nature” area highlights thematic motifs like lotus flowers, herons, loquats, and carps, each glowing in digital light to reflect how ancient Chinese artisans captured the essence of the natural world. In the “Windows of Shadows” area, visitors can walk through a setup mimicking palace walls and experience the changing seasons of the Forbidden City alongside intricate lattice window shadows. The “Flowing Colors” area uses dynamic lights to animate mythical designs like dragons, lotuses, and bat-peach symbols, creating a surreal, dreamlike space. The “Splendid World” area displays patterns from artifacts like a Qianlong-era painted enamel floral jar through dazzling visual effects. Meanwhile, the “Dream of Jiangnan” area recreates the indoor theater of the Palace Museum’s Studio of Exhaustion from Diligent Service (Juanqin zhai) through VR, inviting visitors into the Qianlong Emperor’s imagined vision of southern China.

This exhibition is more than a visual feast; it is a meaningful journey through cultural inheritance and education. With digital technology, classic patterns from the Palace Museum are presented through modern artistic approaches. Visitors can experience traditional culture from new perspectives and witness how patterns are given new life in the digital age, connecting the past with the present.

The exhibition runs from January 7 to August 17, 2025, at the fourth floor of the special exhibition hall of the Suzhou Bay Digital Art Museum.