From imperial heritage to high-impact visuals: “The Ways in Patterns” exhibition reimagined the Forbidden City in Beijing as living art — turning historical motifs into experiences that merged the past and the present.
Forbidden City: 600-Year-Old Palace Grounds Reimagined through Digital Art
From 2025 to 2026, the exhibition “The Ways in Patterns- An Immersive Digital Exhibition from the Palace Museum,” which evoked perceptual displacement in the visitors’ mind, was presented in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Both venues offered a contemporary interpretation of the artistic legacy of the Forbidden City, a large palace complex in the center of Beijing. Through 360-degree digital projection across seven conceptual rooms, historic decorative motifs were transformed into vivid experiences.
About the author
This article was conceptualized and written by Theresa Engelhardt during her high school internship with the invidis editorial team.
Design concept and narrative approach
The exhibition designers placed a clear objective at the heart of this project: to translate traditional craftmanship into an immersive, emotionally engaging experience. Across the themed spaces, patterns drawn from architecture, which shaped the ancient imperial dynasty in China, unfolded in dynamic animations.
Each room presented a distinct narrative, from flowing ceramic-inspired visuals to intricate ceiling designs brought to life through slowly unfolding movements. These sequences are displayed through projection via 4K Barco devices, as can be seen in this video:
According to Barco, delivering this vision required exceptional precision. The complexity of the artwork — defined by fine lines, layered textures, and rich color symbolism — demanded a highly accurate image reproduction at scale. In parallel, the physical constraints of the venues and the need for seamless projection across large surfaces introduced significant technical and areal challenges.
Technical implementation and system deployment
To execute the exhibition, a large network of various projection systems was deployed across both cities, including Barcos 1600-4K8 and G50 series. The Hong Kong venue was equipped with forty-three I600-4K8 and thirty-three G50 projectors, while the Shanghai counterpart featured sixty-seven I600-4K15 projectors. According to Barco, these solutions both enabled precise alignments across the seven large rooms and flexible installation in unconventional configurations. The chosen devices are also designed to support long operating hours in high-traffic public spaces.
By interweaving digital art with cultural heritage, “The Ways in Pattern” offered a perspective, that elicited interest in the Forbidden City with contemporary audiences while preserving the essence of artistic legacy.
