Debuting in Shanghai for the Year of the Snake 2025, the timeless serpent slithers into the spotlight with BVLGARI’s exhibition featuring the endless transformations of the Serpenti
A universal symbol that has captured the imagination of humanity, the snake has been revered as a powerful emblem throughout Chinese culture. Its multitude of meanings resonates in the constant reinvention eternalized by BVLGARI’s Serpenti since 1948 and has found a fertile ground to spread its fascinating nature in art. Thus, an endless territory of mutual exchange expands its fascination with the Serpenti Infinito exhibition: a new exploration that debuted in Shanghai on January 8, 2025, an immersion in the infinite transformations of the snake through art, history, and contemporary creative expressions.
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2025, the Year of the Snake according to Chinese tradition, offers a meaningful occasion for the Roman High Jeweler to continue engaging in this cross-cultural dialogue between East and West, past and present, art and jewelry, history and innovation. Through three immersive chapters, from traditional forms of representation to the innovations of Artificial Intelligence, the serpent reveals its legacy in the universe of art.
Among the personalities who attended the opening event celebrating the Year of the Snake are Anne Hathaway, Liu Yifei, Meng Ziyi, He Ruixian, Cinta Laura Kiehl and Ho Ngoc Ha.
The Snake in Time and Tradition
The exhibition opens with a look at the snake’s enduring legacy in Chinese culture, where it has long embodied vitality, wisdom, and fortune. Myths and art intertwine as the serpent appears in tales of creation, notably in the figures of Fu Xi and Nv Wa, who are said to have shaped humanity. Alongside these ancient narratives, BVLGARI unveils 11 pieces from its Heritage Collection, chronicling decades of Serpenti’s evolution.
Among the pieces are a 1955 five-coil Serpenti Pallini bracelet watch in yellow gold and a striking Serpenti belt echoing the 1970s. Complementing these are modern interpretations: Luo Ming’s gilded installation “Serpent Teng in the Golden Realm” and Qiu Anxiong’s work “The Mysterious Peach Spring – A Rendezvous with Snake”, which itself is a homage to Pu Songling’s Strange Tales.
The young sculptor Mo Lijuan, who refined her vision at the Rome Academy of Fine Arts, bridges traditional Chinese craftsmanship with a global artistic vocabulary. In her work “Spring Encounter”, the artist reinterprets crafts such as enameling through deconstructive techniques.
Serpents in the Artistic Imagination
The exhibit shifts to the snake as a symbol of wisdom, guardianship, and power, interpreted across diverse artistic media. Xu Bing’s “Square Word Calligraphy: Serpenti” melds Chinese calligraphic forms with English letters, while Azza Al Qubaisi’s rust-toned steel sculpture, “Between the Lines” meditates on the impermanence of time.
Li Daiguo, a leading figure in Chinese experimental music, and Li Shurui, a visual artist celebrated for her luminous paintings that explore the theme of “light”, form an artistic duo as they reflect on the protective power of the serpent through “We · Entwinement”—a musical composition that creates an auditory and visual homage to the enduring strength and intimacy of the serpent’s symbolism.
The Ouroboros—the serpent devouring its tail—emerges in Luka Yuanyuan Yang’s video work “Ring of Life”, a poignant meditation on renewal through a female perspective. In ceramics, Wu Haoyu reinvents the classic Blanc-de-Chine aesthetic in his work, “New Stoneware – Serpenti”.
Serving as the snake’s enduring ability to adapt and thrive to the evolution of society, Cate M’s bronze serpent sculptures “The Small and Big Python Head” and “The Mandarin”, are molded in clay and finely carved in bronze.
Contemporary Transformations
The final chapter unveils the snake as a muse for contemporary creativity, expressed through bold experimentation and modernity. Refik Anadol’s “Infinito: AI Data Sculpture” offers a hypnotic interplay of light and motion, evoking the fluid grace of a serpent through AI-generated imagery.
Hong Seung-Hye’s “Snake, Too Long” installation, meanwhile, deconstructs and reimagines the snake’s form, paying homage to BVLGARI’s iconic Serpenti designs.
Utopic Arabia’s “Serpenti Odyssey”, a series of computer-generated imagery, takes viewers through time and space. Tracing the serpent’s path from ancient Rome to the Middle Eastern landscapes, the work offers a visual hunt for the snake’s mythical origins.
Daniel Rozin’s “Snake Scales Mirror” transforms the golden scales of the serpent into a kinetic, mechanical sculpture. This interactive installation reflects viewers in its ever-shifting patterns, incorporating the physical and the conceptual.
Fei Jun’s “Geometry of Emotions 5.0” employs cutting-edge artificial intelligence to explore emotional interaction. Created in collaboration with mathematicians, psychologists, and scientists, the work bridges art, science, and psychological healing.
Zhou Chao’s Infinite Flow centers on algorithmic generation, showcasing how machine intelligence can drive creative production. The resulting artwork combines virtual and physical realms, reflecting the infinite possibilities of technology and art.
Specialized in working with glass, Xie Wendi uncovers its inherent dialectical contradictions, exploring a variety of materials and substances through this unique medium. In her work “Spring”, the artist transforms the physical form and state of materials, forging connections between her body and public spaces.
Building upon the Rococo style, Xue Feng—hailed as a promising painter of the millennial generation—employs riotous painterly brushstrokes and experiments with spatial construction on canvas. These individualistic explorations embrace the creative potential of the serpent in the artwork, “Infinite Door”.
Specializing in recreating subtle, profound, and complex moments, Qi Le grounds her artwork “Lucid Dream” in themes of nature and the dreamscape. Her work delivers a unique interpretation of the dynamic, inseparable bond between the serpent, human creativity, and the telluric forces of the earth.
High Jewelry in Renewal
The exhibit culminates in BVLGARI’s exclusive high jewelry creations. The Serpenti Infinito High Jewelry necklace, bracelet, and brooch are set with pavé diamonds, onyx elements, and buff-top rubies, their sinuous forms evoking the snake’s infinite cycles. The Serpenti Rubellite Crown necklace showcases a 140.53-carat rubellite, while the Serpenti Emerald Nimbus necklace highlights a 12.73-carat Zambian emerald in a vivid geometric design.
The seven-coil Serpenti Tubogas High Jewelry watch offers yet another evolution, with its fluid bracelet mirroring the serpent’s grace. Finally, the new Serpenti Cuore 1968 bag—unveiled for the Year of the Snake—features a heart-inspired silhouette and a sinuous snake-shaped handle.
A Symbol of Infinite Possibilities
The serpent, at once a protector and a symbol of transformation, carries a universal allure that transcends time. From BVLGARI’s heritage of jeweled serpents to the exhibition’s visionary reinterpretations, Serpenti Infinito reflects the endless reinvention and artistic vitality inspired by this ancient emblem.
Through the eyes of art, history, and design, BVLGARI urges the world to appreciate the serpent’s perpetual allure—a remembrance that creativity, like the serpent, is never stagnant but continuously evolving.
The BVLGARI Serpenti Infinito Exhibition runs from January 9th to February 16th
Photos: BVLGARI PH
