Heritage meets technology: DENZA brings eastern-inspired aesthetics to life at Reviving Craft exhibition in London
- DENZA exhibits a range of contemporary art at Somerset House in London
- The Reviving Craft exhibition opened on 16th September 2026 and runs to 27th September
25 September 2026 Ahead of the UK market arrival of its new premium brand, DENZA, and building on the success of its presence at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, BYD Group recently exhibited at a contemporary art and design event in London.
On 16th September 2026 - at the 2026 "Reviving Craft — Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Design" exhibition, organised by Sun Media Group, at Somerset House in London, DENZA introduced a stunning installation of works.
The items included Vast Visions of Lacquered Arcs, Splendid Stitches in Cabin and Weave of Speed, all under the theme "Reflection of the Mind" and rooted in the philosophical core of Chinese Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, the exhibition is arranged into three thematic sections: "Clear the Mind", "Refine the Mind" and "Nourish the Mind". Together, they fused millennium-old cultural heritage craftsmanship into automotive design language.
As China's first premium brand dedicated to new-energy vehicles, DENZA was founded in 2010. Over the years, it has pursued a full-vehicle intelligence strategy to build a complete line-up spanning sports cars, SUVs, saloons and MPVs. For this exhibition, DENZA collaborated closely with intangible cultural heritage masters, embedding bamboo-weave textures into wheel design, sculpting its brand emblem in lacquer, and stitching Canton Embroidery into the cabin interior — allowing Eastern craftsmanship, refined over a thousand years, and modern new-energy technology to elevate one another within the exhibition space.
Featured in the exhibition area, DENZA · Vast Visions of Lacquered Arcs is a joint creation by Chen Liyu and Chen Pengyu, fifth-generation inheritors of the Yewang Zhuxi lacquerware craft. The work innovatively applies five traditional biantú (lacquer transformation) techniques — zhangxiu, youdi, zhaojin, xipi and inlay — to offer a comprehensive artistic reinterpretation of DENZA's signature twin-arc emblem. Through numerous intricate lacquering processes and meticulous finishing, the piece achieves five richly layered textures: flowing clouds, molten gold, falling vermillion, ink-wash and emerald mist. As light and shadow shift across the surface, its texture appears to transform with fluid vitality, turning the warm, time-honoured character of traditional lacquer into a distinctive visual symbol of DENZA's new-premium brand.
DENZA · Splendid Stitches in Cabin, crafted by Liang Xiaoman, sixth-generation inheritor of Canton Embroidery, brings the millennium-old, exquisite needlework of Lingnan Canton Embroidery into DENZA's leather seats and armrest interiors. Thousands of intertwined coloured threads rise and fall in rhythm, capturing the landscapes and refined culture of Lingnan within the smallest of stitches. The result is a seamless union of traditional embroidery and modern automotive interior materials, showcasing to the fullest the warm, delicate, refined and luxurious character of DENZA's cabin.
DENZA · Weave of Speed, created by fibre artist Zhang Haoxin, reconstructs the balance between industrial and natural aesthetics by embedding the fluid, organic texture of bamboo weaving into the structural design of the wheel. The high-performance character of industrial form merges with the humanistic rhythm of traditional bamboo weaving, lending warmth and craftsmanship to what is otherwise a cold industrial object, a vivid expression of the Eastern cultural spirit that underlies the speed of new-energy mobility.
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About DENZA
DENZA is the premium design- and technology-led mobility brand from BYD Group. It successfully mixes European-influenced sophisticated design with state-of-the-art platforms and technologies, delivering many unique features to the premium car market. The brand was founded in 2010 as a partnership between BYD and Daimler, and launched its first vehicle in 2014. It is being introduced to the European market during 2026.
About BYD Auto
Founded in 2003, BYD Auto is the automotive subsidiary of BYD, a multinational high-tech company devoted to leveraging technological innovations for a better life. Aiming to accelerate the green transition of the global transportation sector, BYD Auto focuses on developing pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The company has mastered the core technologies of the entire industrial chain of new energy vehicles, such as batteries, electric motors, electronic controllers, and automotive-grade semiconductors. It has witnessed in recent years significant technological advancements, including the Blade Battery, the DM-i and DM-p hybrid technology, the e-Platform 3.0, the CTB and iTAC technologies, the DiSus Intelligent Body Control System, the XUANJI Architecture, and the Super e-Platform. The company is the world’s first carmaker to stop the production of fossil-fuelled vehicles on EV shift and has remained top of new energy passenger vehicle sales in China for 12 years in a row.
About BYD Europe
BYD Europe is headquartered in Hungary and was the first overseas branch of BYD Group, with a commitment to evolving the international brand BYD Auto to deliver safe and efficient sustainable solutions in new-energy vehicles through world-leading technological innovations.
Contacts:
Mike Gale
Head of PR, BYD and DENZA UK
M +44 7908 905678
E michael.gale@byd.com
Rachel Goodwin
PR Manager, BYD and DENZA UK
M +44 7399 678373
E rachel.goodwin@byd.com
Alex Ingram
Press Officer, BYD and DENZA UK
M +44 7539 534571
E alex.ingram@byd.com