Taiwan hosts regional ceramic arts exhibition

Taipei County Commissioner Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday pledged his support for plans to market Taiwan-produced ceramic arts and crafts to the world.

"Yingko [of Taipei County] has long been known as Taiwan's ceramics capital," said Su. "It is our goal to further the appreciation and the awareness of Yingko's aesthetic culture onto the world stage."

Su made the comments yesterday at the opening of the International Asia-Pacific Contemporary Ceramics Invitational Exhibition, which was hosted by the Yingko Ceramics Museum (台北縣立鶯歌陶瓷博物館) with the Liberty Times and the Taipei Times as co-sponsors.

"Via an array of symposiums and workshops, we hope that this international exchange will bring more worldwide exposure to Taiwan's ceramic arts, and vice versa," Su added.

Lee Chang-kuei (李長貴), president of the Taipei Times, echoed Su's remarks.

"By engaging in international exchanges of culture and art, we can further bring the world to Taiwan and Taiwan to the world," said Lee, the opening's guest speaker.

The series of symposiums, which run through tomorrow, showcase 51 renowned ceramists from eight Asian countries and regions, Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and Taiwan, to share with attendees their experiences and ideas concerning the art and culture of ceramics.

"Aside from the three-day symposium, the exhibition itself will run until June 6, displaying contemporary ceramics from different countries exhibiting diverse cultural backgrounds," said Wu Chine-fang (吳進風), director of the Taipei County Yingko Ceramics Museum.

More information on the symposium or the exhibition can be obtained at http://www.ceramics.tpc.gov.tw. The Yingko Ceramics Museum is located at 200 Wenhua Rd., Yingko, Taipei County (台北縣鶯歌鎮文化路200號), tel: (02) 8677-4104.