Citywide celebration of culture

World Tree was the main theme of the exhibition this year. "In Old English, 'tree' and 'true' share the same root," Gao says. "From woodblock printing to artificial intelligence, from photography to image generator Midjourney, and from movies just over a century ago to Sora (a text-to-video generative model), most of us feel the way technology is reshaping truth and how the idea of a person has dissolved, as humans have become beings with technologically integrated senses."

The ancient legends of quite a few cultures around the world have the concept of a world tree. For example, Yggdrasil, which is also referred to as the World Tree, occupies a central position in Norse cosmology and is said to be an enormous ash tree that connects the nine worlds, including the underworld, the earth, and the realm of the gods, and so is associated with both life and death.

"The World Tree was once a channel connecting heaven, earth, and humanity, and now, this ancient legend will help our graduates understand the world through the perspective of life, and understand people through the perspective of nature," Gao says.

He speaks of people's experience of climbing trees and their unique perspectives, metaphorically. "Looking upward or downward, from your position on a branch, you see a complex, multifaceted world," he says. "However, a little exploration may lead to new beginnings, if one explores higher, walks farther, or digs deeper to the roots. It's the same with exploring one's field of specialization."