Heritage inheritors give Molly a milestone celebration

At the Fosun Foundation Shanghai, a captivating piece of inlaid gold lacquerware titled Royal Molly, Guardian of Starlight, crafted by artisan Yan Bei, commands attention. This exquisite work, employing traditional gold-inlaid lacquerware techniques, vividly portrays Molly, a popular IP sold by Pop Mart, as a guardian of the sky set against a cosmic backdrop of stars, the moon and halos. The gleaming gold background symbolizes the creativity and curiosity flourishing in various cities.

Inspired by his daughter, a Molly fan with a collection of over 200 figures, Yan was driven to explore themes of companionship and courage. "My daughter's love for Molly motivated me to use this medium to introduce inlaid gold lacquerware to a broader audience, which is the essence of inheritance," Yan explains.

This inventive piece exemplifies the fusion of intangible cultural heritage and trendy toys at the Molly 20th Anniversary Exhibition, marking the launch of its Shanghai leg and one of the world's largest offline Molly-themed exhibitions.

Created by renowned artist Kenny Wong in 2006, Molly has evolved into one of Pop Mart's most iconic IPs following the brand's 2016 partnership. That year, the little figures captivated the trendy toy market. Over the following decade, Molly expanded into a comprehensive IP portfolio, encompassing figures, cultural and creative products, and offline experiences. Its zodiac and space series have gained global popularity and cultivated a loyal fan base.

Shanghai is the second stop on the global tour, which runs from March 21 to May 10. The exhibition, co-curated by Pop Mart and Wong, not only marks a 20-year celebration for Molly fans but also fosters cross-border integration and mutual empowerment between intangible cultural heritage and trendy toys.

Centered on "the little galaxy", the exhibition traces Molly's growth. In the 2006-2009 Hi, Molly chapter, the first Molly figure and precious manuscripts by Wong are neatly displayed, leading the audience into a restored artist studio that re-creates the behind-the-scenes of Molly's birth. Other exhibition chapters featuring Molly, Baby Molly, Angry Molly, Space Molly, and Royal Molly interpret Molly's multiple cores of imagination, innocence, courage, and guardianship.

A Shanghai-exclusive highlight, the "Me" and Molly chapter gathers over 20 artists and intangible cultural heritage inheritors to create cross-border works with Molly.

Diao Kuan's bamboo weaving Space Molly work uses purple, bitter and arrow bamboo, combining architectural structure with bamboo to create a "hole-stealing" sense and a futuristic space transfer device.

"Bamboo weaving was once only for daily use; no one imagined it with trendy toys," Diao says, adding that heritage inheritance should not be rigid. "Let young people see that old crafts can also produce works that keep up with the times — that is the significance of inheritance."

Post-00s shadow puppetry inheritor Dang Feihua created a 3-meter-tall shadow puppet depicting Molly traveling through eight planets. As the fifth-generation inheritor of Wang's Shadow, he broke the stereotype that shadow puppetry only tells traditional stories, integrating Molly's courage and exploration with Shan Hai Jing's (The Classics of Mountains and Seas) mythical beasts. "I hope to echo today's purest fairy tales with China's most ancient romance," he says.

Other cross-border works abound: Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, filamentary silver-hovering art inheritor Wang Xiaolu spent 1,200 hours pulling silver wire to hair-thin thickness to create Royal Molly Dream of Flight, bringing the 1,700-year-old court craft to the public via Molly. Zhao Nan, an inheritor of sculpting and painting Peking Opera masks, combined the traditional Peking Opera Monkey King with Molly's proportions, embedding tiger head cuffs on her buttons for a blend of craftsmanship and fashion. Chengdu batik inheritor Xie Baogao broke traditional tie-dye color limits and used over 20 shades of blue for his 2.8-meter-high Space Molly Indigo Voyager.