This year, the Alibaba Group, China’s leading technology firm, organized the festival in its hometown of Hangzhou. A sprawling outdoor setting on the banks of West Lake, a famed Hangzhou landmark. The 2018 Taobao Maker Festival attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors. With more than 200 participating merchants, traders and dealers – twice the number of last year – the 4-day mega-event was not only the biggest, but also the most diverse.

This year, the Beijing office of VOK DAMS Worldwide was onsite managing the presence and communication of Volkswagen China – one of the festival’s sponsors – with an extensive digital creative showcase. This included a holographic display, an anamorphic LED installation and a live 3D printing station. The Beijing and Shanghai based VOK DAMS China, well-connected in contemporary China and at the forefront of tracking trends, contracted well-known Chinese artist Luo Qianxi as a designer for the Volkswagen China interactive photo walls, with which the visitors posed enthusiastically.