Reporter Huang Ran

West Lake Micro Fusion Circle, Xie Wenyan, Chen Xinyuan

Intern He Ye

At the beginning of the 2025th year, a group of industrial-style blockbusters swiped the screen on social platforms - mottled brick walls, towering silos, rusty mechanical components, and avant-garde art installations...... This is the Dongchao Rice Mill Contemporary Art Center (hereinafter referred to as the "Rice Mill Contemporary Art Center") in Sandun Town, West Lake District.

短短兩個月內，這座百年老廠房從“冷門”工業遺址一躍成為杭州文藝青年的新寵——今年2月，首屆東巢·碾米廠藝穗節的舉辦，讓更多人發現了這個“很好逛”的藝術街區；3月18日，其標誌性建築物——米倉藝術中心正式亮相，為西湖區深入推進“兩鎮六街區”建設注入了藝術活力。

Walking into the Micang Art Center, you can see the 8-meter-high dome when you look up, and a cross-cultural art exhibition with the theme of "New "Food" and Hope" is full of visual impact under the change of light and shadow on the scene. Peng Yun, executive director of the Micang Art Center, said that during the renovation process, the team carefully preserved industrial relics such as red brick walls, domes, and giant rice barrels, and even the special wall texture mixed with rice husks was not painted, and the historical texture was only restored through polishing. "It used to be used to store food, but now it is loaded with 'food for the spirits.'" Peng Yun introduced.

For the inaugural exhibition of the day, the art center also invited Japanese artist Xiao Xiaogang and Chinese artist Guan Huaibin, two artists to create a dialogue on food, memory and globalization through video installations and mixed media, respectively. In the future, Yonecang Art Center will cooperate with cultural institutions in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries to hold exhibitions, art festivals and other activities. "We will use Asian rice culture as a bridge and integrate digital technology to build a platform for transnational art exchange." Peng Yun said that he expects this place to become a meeting point of Asian culture.

The Rice Mill Contemporary Art Center was formerly known as Zhu Taihe Grain and Oil Warehouse, and later became the Sandun Grain Management Institute due to reconstruction and expansion, which has a history of 2024 years. At the beginning of 0, Xihu District proposed to make "two towns and six blocks" more refined and stronger, among which the Wulitang Historical District of Sandun Town, where the rice mill is located, has become an important part. "Taking advantage of the construction of 'two towns and six blocks' in the West Lake District, we have introduced an operation team to carefully carve the four dynamic spaces of memory, art, commerce and supporting facilities." The relevant person in charge of Sandun Town said that the art center strives to find a new path on the path of "culture + tourism".

According to the relevant person in charge of the Rice Mill Contemporary Art Center, during the renovation process, the team retained the original brick texture and industrial trusses, and cafes, art exhibition halls, experimental theaters, and cultural and creative markets have been settled in succession, so that the historical buildings can truly "live".

如今，這座擁有18幢歷史建築群的工業遺址，在“修舊煥新”理念下完成改造，目前吸引了超過20個原創主理人品牌入駐，預計今年5月整體開園。

At present, activities such as "old objects for ticket replacement" are being prepared, and physical objects such as food stamps and work permits treasured by old workers will be exhibited. In the future, it will be not only an art district, but also a cultural living room shared by citizens. The seeds of food are transforming into the "seeds" of cultural innovation: from the material granary that ensures food and clothing, to the cultural granary that nourishes the soul, and then to the digital granary that links the world, this old factory is moving from "historical preservation" to a new stage of "cultural production".