This is worth the read: Tencent unites AI and Games to Preserve & Share Cultural Heritage.

In conjunction with UNESCO Tencent as an innovative business is connecting virtual moeling to share/preserve culture. 

Tencent Brings Together AI and Games to Help Preserve and Share Cultural Heritage

 of New UNESCO Site in Jingdezhen

• Tencent applies AI and games to protect, reconstruct, and promote one of the world's oldest porcelain traditions at newly inscribed UNESCO site
• Digital initiatives create a new model for technology-driven heritage preservation globally using a multimodal AI dataset, AI-assisted artifact restoration, and interactive virtual experiences

-- Tencent (00700.HK) today announced the launch of Digital Jingdezhen: Porcelain Craft Adventure, an AI-powered cultural heritage game that enables users to explore Jingdezhen's porcelain-making traditions and experience traditional craft techniques through interactive play. The launch coincides with the inscription of the Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Sites on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List.

Digital Jingdezhen is part of a broader cultural innovation initiative that applies Tencent's AI and game technologies. Guided by Tencent's vision of "Tech for Good", the initiative leverages digital preservation to keep Jingdezhen's thousand-year-old porcelain culture alive and relevant today, creating a living heritage with sustainable value and broad public engagement, and building a model that could be carried to heritage sites around the world.

Digital Preservation: Restoring and Unlocking Heritage with AI

Jingdezhen has a thousand years of living heritage; centuries of tradition are still active in its kilns today. To preserve this legacy, a cornerstone of the project was the Jingdezhen Porcelain Cultural Heritage Multimodal AI Dataset.

Over decades, historical records, heritage information, and craft specifications have accumulated into a massive volume of data. Tencent applied Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and knowledge graph technologies to transform these dispersed materials into structured digital resources that can be analyzed, extracted, verified, and traced back to their original sources.

The dataset contains more than 30,000 documentary records, over 5,000 ceramic gene specimens, and data on nearly 1,000 representative ceramic artifacts in collections worldwide. It provides a digital foundation for cultural research, exhibition development, public interpretation and AI-powered heritage applications.

Building on this foundation, Tencent has developed a range of industry- and public-facing applications, including the Jingdezhen Ancient Ceramics Gene Database, the World Ceramics Interactive Map, and the Digital Jingdezhen AI Companion, providing researchers, heritage professionals, and the public with innovative AI-powered tools to explore and understand porcelain heritage.

Digital Activation: Bringing Jingdezhen's Porcelain Heritage to Life Through AI and Games

To bring the public closer to Jingdezhen and its porcelain-making traditions, Digital Jingdezhen: Porcelain Craft Adventure utilizes AI-assisted Procedural Content Generation (PCG) to create the first large-scale digital recreation of the city's five major porcelain heritage sites and historical production scenes. By rapidly mapping out town layouts and automatically generating architectural structures, decorative elements, and pedestrians, the technology brings Jingdezhen's historic townscape back to life in the digital world.

The game also features high-quality AI digital humans built on large language models and the Jingdezhen Porcelain Cultural Heritage Multimodal AI Dataset. Through AI voice-driven facial expressions and Tencent Games' proprietary animation technology, it creates warm, human-centered interactive experiences that make historical knowledge tangible and relatable. At the same time, AI-powered 3D generation allows users to quickly transform an uploaded image into a 3D porcelain form, lowering the barrier to participation and enabling anyone to turn creative inspiration into tangible ceramic forms in the digital space.

Continuing Heritage: Mobilizing the Community

Ensuring the longevity of Jingdezhen's legacy requires active public participation. Tencent developed the Digital Heritage Guardian (Jingdezhen), a volunteer program built within the Weixin ecosystem. The program enables the public to support the upkeep and stewardship of physical heritage sites, creating a practical channel for community involvement in heritage protection.

"Our work in Jingdezhen is a testament to how 'AI for Good' can breathe new life into ancient traditions," said Zhan Shu, Head of Digital Culture Lab, Tencent. "Working alongside dedicated heritage experts, we have contributed our capabilities in AI and digital technologies to unlock decades of dormant archives for this incredible new UNESCO site. We are proud to help bridge the gap between the thousand-year porcelain heritage and the digital era, creating new ways for the global public to connect with Jingdezhen's living history, and a model for heritage sites worldwide."

For media queries, please contact: gc@tencent.com

About Tencent

Tencent is a global technology and entertainment company focused on creating connections and experiences that matter. Founded in 1998, Tencent is driven by its mission to create "Value for Users" and apply "Tech for Good."

Tencent's communication and social services connect more than one billion people around the world, helping them to keep in touch with friends and family, access transportation, pay for daily necessities, and even be entertained. Tencent also develops and publishes some of the world's most popular video games and other high-quality digital content, delivering rich and immersive interactive entertainment experiences. Tencent also offers a range of services such as cloud computing and other enterprise services to support our clients' digital transformation and business growth. Headquartered in Shenzhen, Tencent has been listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong since June 2004. 

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Laguna Art Museum News Update: dr la Torre Brothers ~The Tipping Point~ and more see. below !

 

OPENS AUGUST 1   de la Torre Brothers: The Tipping Point What is 𝙙𝙚 𝙡𝙖 𝙏𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩? Opening at Laguna Art Museum on August 1, The Tipping Point is a densely layered installation accented by chandeliers, suspended forms and floor-level objects all centered around a monumental banquet-length table that rewards close looking. Who are the de la Torre Brothers? This installation comes from the creative vision of collaborative artist brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre, whose mixed-media practice reflects a richly layered aesthetic informed by the complexities of bicultural identity and life on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border.  What will it look like? You'll have to see it to believe it! The brothers' careful orchestration of materials, surfaces and lighting creates a sense of visual abundance while guiding visitors through the space as active participants rather than passive viewers.

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AUGUST 2 | 11:00 AM   Exclusive Walkthrough: The Tipping Point Join us for an exclusive guided walkthrough of The Tipping Point, offering an in-depth exploration of the visionary work of artist brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre. Renowned for their vibrant, multilayered sculptures and installations that blend glass, mixed media, pop culture, religion, and social commentary, the brothers create immersive worlds that invite both wonder and reflection.  The walkthrough will explore the recurring motifs, symbols, and cultural references woven throughout the exhibition, uncovering the meanings and stories behind these elements while examining the themes that shape the artists’ practice.

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JULY 26 | 12:00 PM   Picnic & Paint  in the Park Included with ticket: Light refreshments All supplies Educator instruction Pack your favorite picnic (or enjoy the provided light refreshments) and join us for a relaxing afternoon of art, nature, and community. Settle into the park, soak in Laguna Beach’s beautiful surroundings, and create your own artwork in a casual, welcoming setting.

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NOW ON VIEW   Frank Cuprien: For the Love of the Sea Celebrating the enduring legacy of Frank Cuprien, a founding figure of Laguna Beach’s art community and one of California’s most devoted painters of the Pacific coast. More than a presentation of paintings, the exhibition invites visitors to know Frank Cuprien as an artist and as a person. Archival materials from the museum’s collection, including photographs, letters and personal records offer rare insight into his daily practice, friendships and deep attachment to Laguna Beach. These materials place the artworks in lived context, illuminating how Cuprien returned to the same stretch of shoreline again and again, finding endless variation in light, movement and mood.

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AUGUST 6 | 5:00 PM   First Thursdays Art Walk Held on the first Thursday of every month, this cultural event celebrates the diverse cultural art scene of Laguna Beach and is free to the public. Featured Performance 7:00 pm: Laguna Dance commemorates the 250th anniversary of the United States with a vibrant performance that traces the nation’s spirit through movement. The work reflects themes of independence, resilience and collective hope, offering a dynamic tribute to America’s past, present and evolving future.

YOUR MUSEUM   Art + Nature Returns This Fall The Art + Nature legacy continues this fall. Meet American painter Kim Manfredi and her commissioned Art + Nature projects: 𝘼 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙜 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙁𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 and 𝙑𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙙! Learn about Manfredi's vision for Art + Nature by clicking the link below.

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MAKE IT YOUR MUSEUM   Become a Member! Join as a member of Laguna Art Museum to really make it yours. Enjoy unlimited admission, special discounts, guest passes to share your museum experience with friends and family, exclusive access to members-only programs and more unique opportunities for enlightenment through our ever-changing display of California art. Your membership support directly impacts what we do next.

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NOW ON VIEW   Latest and Greatest: New Work at Laguna Art Museum A rotating selection of newly acquired artworks that are part of the museum's actively growing permanent art collection. This ongoing exhibition showcases the contemporary relevance of our newly acquired artworks made after the year 2000.

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LAM KIDS!   Summer Camps Continue August 3 There are few spots remaining! Did you sign your kids up yet? Each Monday, while the museum is closed to the public, kids will have the space to themselves to play, explore and create. Each camp explores the unique ways that creativity has existed across time and the world. Make LAM your summer Monday destination! August 3: Fantasy Worlds & Mythical Realms Originate magical lands and legendary creatures! Illustrate your own fantasy worlds through drawings, sculptures, and narratives inspired by folklore, fables and your imagination.

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NOW ON VIEW   Andy Moses: Into the Light Andy Moses: Into the Light surveys the artists work of the last two decades, evincing his increasingly expansive commitment to a kind of painting that at once displays and obscures imagery. This work forces you to decide what it is doing to you, what it is showing you, if and how it is tricking your eyes or playing to their strengths. It’s a kind of magic.

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YOUR STORE   Explore the Museum Store Our museum store is your destination for gifts as unique and artistic as you are! Whether you're shopping for yourself or a friend, you'll have to answer "Where did you find that?" every time you step out wearing one of the adorable tote bags from our store or when a friend notices your unusually tasteful vase during an evening at home. (Psst... LAM Members get a discount on museum store purchases!)

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Eleanor Harwood Gallery at the San Francisco Art Book Fair! Thursday -Sundays.

 

Join us at the SF Art Book Fair! Original Art, Print Projects & Local Artist-Made Goods in the our Project Space Thursday 6-10pm Friday & Saturday - 11am-6pm Sunday - 11am-5pm

When Minnesota Street Project open 10 years ago, Colpa Press and Park Life proposed the San Francisco Art Book Fair. The first year was a huge success and it felt like our building was christened. Read about SFABF here: https://sfartbookfair.com/About-SFABF This year celebrates the 10th edition of the San Francisco Book Fair and 10 years of the Minnesota Street Project. Please join us to celebrate and support our amazing community! We are delighted to host local vendors in our main gallery. EHG will have great original artwork, and print projects and artist-made goods in our Project Space. And so much more.... loads of additional programming too: https://sfartbookfair.com/Programming This is one of the best events all year. Join us if you can! - Eleanor

Lee Materazzi - Knees

You can find these test plaster cast knees in the project space at @eleanor_harwood_gallery opening Thursday July 23rd, 6-10. They are priced between $30-$100. Sometimes the mistakes are better than the plans. * But we will have some of the plans too. They are $800 per set. Please inquire, they may not be listed on our site yet. eleanor@eleanorharwood.com https://eleanorharwood.com/store/

Sam Lee - Prints & an introduction - solo show upcoming

Sam Lee is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is featured in cafes and restaurants such as Andytown Coffee Roasters (in SF’s Facebook building), Lazy Bear, and True Laurel, and featured in hotels and resorts such as Auberge Resorts and Populus Hotel! Most notably, Sam’s illustration work was featured in the DeYoung Museum Open 2023. Her work is inspired by her love of nature, hiking and being in the wilderness. Prints are $250 & $160 https://eleanorharwood.com/store/

Carmen McNall - Prints

We've just released these three gorgeous prints in time for SFABF. They can be purchased online or in person at the fair. Please note will be shipping mid-August. We also have two original paintings up which you can peek at in the Project Space. https://eleanorharwood.com/store/

Jenny Lemons - Food inspired Hair Clips

Jenny Lemons is a colorful accessories and creative lifestyle brand founded in 2015 by San Francisco based artist Jennie Lennick. Jennie is an illustrator and designer whose work is inspired by food, nostalgia, and the small everyday moments that spark joy. Every product is designed by Jennie and based on her original illustrations. Classically trained as a painter, Jennie has been making things for as long as she can remember, and Jenny Lemons grew out of that lifelong studio practice.

People I've Loved Books, Prints, Cards, Trays, Card Decks

Carrisa Potter is usually representing People I've Loved, which she founded, at SFABF. She can't attend this year so we are representing her as she is traveling! We have loads of goodies in the Project Space.

For inquiries please contact Eleanor Harwood +1 415 867 7770 & eleanor@eleanorharwood.com #eleanorharwoodgallery#fineartmagazineblog.blogspot.com #sunstormfineartmagazine.com#artfunbooks#artfunnow#artfunpress#artfuncommunity