Mythical Creatures Reborn: Fantastical Beings from Cultural Relics is an exhibition that brings together artifacts, animation, and immersive visual design. As the animation and digital content production team for this exhibition, we sought to reinterpret the sacred beasts that ancient people imagined and recorded — creatures that existed only in legend — through motion, character performance, and visual storytelling, inviting audiences into the fantastical world of these artifacts in a way that feels immediate and alive.
For this exhibition, we used dynamic visuals and character animation to translate sacred beasts from ancient texts and artifacts into figures that feel genuinely alive. From their physical structure and movement to details like fur, smoke, and energy effects, every element was built around a core principle: preserving the original visual character of the artifacts, while reinterpreting them through the language of contemporary animation.
Visitors can not only study the actual artifacts on display, but also see what these creatures look like once given motion and life. Unlike traditional static exhibitions, we wanted the rhythm and narrative of animation to help audiences more intuitively grasp each creature’s symbolic meaning, abilities, and cultural context — and to appreciate how ancient artists conjured entire fantastical beings from nothing more than written descriptions and imagination.
Throughout the exhibition space, large-scale moving images, ambient sound design, and atmospheric projection place visitors inside scenes of sacred beasts moving through mountains, seas, clouds, and mist from ancient myth. We also translated the decorative motifs, linework, and formal qualities of the artifacts into a dynamic visual language — so that beyond its educational dimension, the exhibition leaves visitors with vivid visual impressions and a genuine emotional experience.
Organizer｜Southern Branch of National Palace Museum Executing
Organization｜JSW
Creative Team｜YURI Studio
Art Director｜Allan Yang
Technical Director｜Aslan W
Animation Sketch｜Nata