Bottega Veneta's “A Poetic Conversation” installation in Shanghai

Bottega Veneta has inaugurated in Shanghai, at the Rowing Club, an interactive poetry installation titled “A Poetic Conversation”. The installation, which celebrates the power of personal expression, features thousands of copies of the anthology In Such a Staggering World (Yao Yao Huang Huang De Ren Jian) by Chinese poet Yu Xiuhua, arranged in a three-dimensional shape resembling Bottega Veneta's iconic brandmark. Throughout the day, visitors will have the opportunity to explore the installation and take home a free copy of the work. Yu Xiuhua, one of the most widely read poets in China, was born in 1976 in a small village in Hubei Province. Her literary career began in her twenties, but she gained fame in 2014 when one of her poems, I Crossed Half of China to Sleep with You, published on her blog, went viral. This success attracted the attention of Liu Nian, an editor at the Chinese literary journal Poetry, who decided to republish more of her poems.

Since then, Yu has published four poetry collections and won numerous prestigious Chinese literary awards. She has also been the subject of a documentary and recently collaborated with British dance producer Farooq Chaudhry OBE on a choreographic reinterpretation of her work. Her writing is characterized by a raw, confessional style, which establishes a direct dialogue with the reader. Her poems combine simple language with fragmented imagery and evocative verses, exploring universal themes such as love, freedom, and disability. Yu was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that affects her mobility and speech. Her poems attest to the physical and emotional challenges she has faced, while also rewriting perceptions of disability in China, addressing openly themes of romance, desire, and the assertion of personal independence.

For Bottega Veneta, Yu’s work represents a powerful example of that form of self-expression that is integral to the founding values of the brand. The famous slogan When your own initials are enough has always celebrated authentic individuality. This philosophy comes to life perfectly in “A Poetic Conversation”. As visitors pick up their copy of Yu's anthology, the Bottega Veneta brandmark slowly fades away. What remains is the poetry and each reader's personal response to it. In Such a Staggering World thus becomes a companion in the individual journey, just as Bottega Veneta bags adapt to the wearer throughout the day, becoming their own in every movement and every context. For this installation, a special edition of In Such a Staggering World has been created, which includes a fold-out poster featuring the famous motto When your own initials are enough and a bookmark with a new poem by Yu Xiuhua inspired by this very slogan.