Danwei TV: Swedish sailing ships and porcelain in China

Last year, some of the best and rarest pieces of Qing porcelain from Swedish collections were transported back to China for an exhibition in the Forbidden City.

Your correspondent produced a documentary film commissioned by Scandinavian Airlines about the porcelain and the event, called Handled with Care. It tells the story of ‘export porcelain’ bought in China, and taken to Europe on the ships of the Swedish East India Company in the 1700s and early 1800s.

We have produced a six minute version of the film to coincide with the arrival in Guangzhou of the replica Götheborg sailing ship, which was built using the traditional ship building methods and materials of 1700s. The replica Götheborg arrived in Guangzhou on Tuesday, and will sail to Shanghai in early August where it will be moored at the Bund for more than a month.

This short film includes footage of the Götheborg sailing in open water, but is focused on the story of the porcelain, and features interviews with Crown Princess Victoria, the Swedish Ambassador, and Chinese and Swedish porcelain experts.

This film was shot and edited by Luke Mines, with narration by Marie Wennberg (English version) and Jane Zheng (Chinese version).

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