On August 1st, the 2026 Dianchi International Coffee Culture Carnival Lakeside Art Season kicked off at Camp 2 on the east bank of Dianchi Lake. The event is hosted by Kunming Culture and Tourism Group, organized by Huandian Culture and Tourism, Culture and Tourism Travel Company, and executed by Beijing Paul Investment Group. It will be extended until August 9th and open to the public free of charge throughout the day.
This art season revolves around the theme of "Art x Coffee", breaking away from traditional art museum exhibition halls and spreading artworks such as installations, paintings, sculptures, etc. on the lakeside lawn and lakeside promenade, allowing the public to immerse themselves in art while enjoying the lake and cafes, and reconstructing the connection between humans, nature, and the city. The event gathered 50 artists and teams from home and abroad, showcasing 65 diverse works covering architectural installations, graphic paintings, and spatial design. Boutique installations such as "Salt Stop," "Island Creatures," and "Where to See the Red billed Gull" landed on the lake shore, focusing on the ecology of Dianchi Lake and the daily life of Spring City through localized creation. Ten resident artists will be set up on-site synchronously, allowing the audience to witness the entire process of outdoor live creation up close.
The portrait of a cup of coffee "is a featured co creation project of this art season. Young artists welcome tourists with open creative spaces, listen to the urban memories and life stories related to coffee, and then transform them into hand drawn portraits. Each participant is a part of the work, and numerous portraits will be gathered into an exclusive collective painting for the coffee festival, using coffee as a link to convey the warmth of the city.
At the opening ceremony, curators Ni Hao and Ma Xiaoqing shared the curatorial concept of "art stepping out of the white box", and co created artist representative Li Jiaying talked about the original intention of youth creation.
The organizer introduced that coffee is a globally recognized carrier of life aesthetics, and public art empowers lakeside public spaces. This event builds a young and international urban cultural platform, breaks down commercial and artistic barriers, and creates a new scene of "coffee+art+cultural tourism". The event delves into the local heritage of Yunnan, integrates international trend art, and continues to attract young creators, injecting avant-garde vitality into the city.
This cross-border practice is not a short-term festival event, but rather an innovative exploration of the local creative industry. In the future, all parties will continue to deepen the integration of multiple business formats, linking camping, coffee markets, live music and other sectors, creating a long-term and communicable urban cultural business card, and using cross-border art to help Kunming's urban culture spread externally.
Source: Urban Times
Full media reporter: Zhu Jiaji
Editor: Jiang Lei
Reviewed by: Zhong Ling
Final appeal: Peng Deguang