Ancient myth takes flight in sweet contemporary form

Made from more than a ton of fondant, a 4-meter-tall Pegasus now rises in Shanghai's Lujiazui, the city's landmark financial district, presenting a striking blend of Chinese cultural heritage, contemporary aesthetics and culinary craftsmanship, according to industry experts.

Created to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Horse, the artwork, a white, winged figure, was handcrafted from scratch over nearly four months, according to its creator Zhou Yi.

"The entire process follows the procedures of the intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship," says Zhou.

Dubbed "sugar king", Zhou is known as one of the best fondant artists in China.

"We aim to reinterpret traditional Chinese culture in a brand-new format, so we turned to the White Dragon Horse — a powerful narrative that remains largely unexplored in artistic creation," says Zhou, speaking at an unveiling ceremony on Jan 30, where the Pegasus debuted alongside 10 additional works.

"The image of the Pegasus is borrowed from traditional Chinese culture including Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). In order to attract younger audiences, anime elements were incorporated to give the artwork an innovative, stylish edge," Zhou says.

Known as one of the three great "ancient classics" of China, Shan Hai Jing represents a collection of ancient geography, history, mythology, astronomy, flora and fauna, medicine, religion, and technological history dating back more than 2,000 years, and is regarded as an encyclopedia of the ancient social life of China. The other two books are Yijing (The Book of Changes) and Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine).

Calling the exhibition a model of the integration of traditional craftsmanship and modern art, Cai Daying, chairman of the China National Arts and Crafts Society, says the show has demonstrated the vitality of fondant artworks through innovation.

"The fondant art inherits traditional techniques while successfully incorporating elements of modern art. It is an important direction for intangible cultural heritage techniques to thrive in a globalized world," says Cai.

"The purpose of arts and crafts is to meaningfully connect with audiences. Traditional skills should not remain distant museum artifacts. By adopting contemporary, fashionable forms of expression that appeal to younger generations, we revitalize heritage. This fondant artwork is exactly what we call innovative inheritance," Cai adds.

The sculpture is the largest Zhou has created among nearly 100 works produced over his career.

"The fondant horse was certainly not a piece of cake," the 43-year-old artist says with a smile. "From the initial design to the final presentation, our five-member team spent almost four months strictly adhering to heritage craftsmanship techniques."