Passers by might haven noticed a young man collecting driftwood on a river bank one rainy day in September last year shortly after Typhoon Morakot hit southern Taiwan and wondered what he was doing. The mystery was finally answered at an exhibition in Milan, Italy, in April.
The exhibition — which uses driftwood to depict modern designs in lacquer ware — received much acclaim at the Taiwan pavilion at Milan’s design museum Triennial.
“Having thought for many years about how to present the true spirit of Taiwanese lacquer ware, I found that using local materials was the best way to showcase the value and beauty of lacquer,” designer Liao Po-ching (廖柏晴) said.
PHOTO: CNA
Liao worked with lacquer ware artist Liao Sheng-wen (廖勝文) and woodcarver Lan Wei-wen (藍偉文) for half a year to create a cupboard with a traditional lock called Calligraphy Cupboard. This features 23 layers of lacquer and a shape created by nature.
“Drift wood is a material shaped by the weather and local natural environment,” Liao said.
These characteristics make it the best possible medium to present the features of Taiwanese art.
It seems he is on the right track. Several buyers have offered as much as NT$1,000,000 (US$30,000) for his work, director of the Taiwan Craft Research Institute, Lin Jeng-yi (林正儀) said.
Liao is not the only designer to attend the international event and win praise. Wu Hsiao-ju (吳孝儒) is another good example. He has successfully promoted “Yii,” a brand which was established by the institute three years ago.
Wu’s creative idea is based on a belief that when global brand IKEA meets Taiwanese crafts, a new design style is forged.
He cooperated with craft artist Huang Li-shu (黃麗淑) to transform simple glass into a more complicated work infused with Eastern design flair.
One example is a vermeil lamp portraying a mythical battlefield of tigers and dragons.
In collaboration with craft artist Lan, Wu turned a typical IKEA table leg into a carving depicting the deity of protection, Guan Yin, riding a dragon.
Wu and Huang were among 15 young artists and 20 craftsmen who presented 44 works at the Salone del Mobile, the International Furniture Fair in Milan, this year.
They represent the new face of Taiwanese craftwork.
The annual one-week design event is considered one of the largest design trade shows in the world.
“The most important part is we were invited to exhibit our works at ‘La Triennale di Milano,’ an important venue where access was previously only provided to European and Japanese brands,” Lin said.
“All of the works we showed at the event blend local traditional craft skills with modern design concepts to show unique characteristics,” Lin said, adding that this included craftwork made of silver, glass, porcelain, wood, macrame and many other materials.
This successfully drew the attention of designers and the media.
“Even a manager from Louis Vuitton and other collectors and buyers hope to cooperate with Yii,” Lin said.
He said the “Yii” brand was created to promote a Taiwanese brand to the world. Originally a five-year project, after successfully promoting the brand around the world in a shorter time than planned, the next step is to find an agent to sell the products.
Since the institute is part of a government organization, Lin said that they will choose a representative agent by means of a competitive selection process.
“We have successfully achieved the recognition of the brand as our first step, which has transformed previous impressions into an acknowledgement of the high-quality modern design works made in Taiwan,” Lin said.
“The world can definitely see Taiwan’s culture and modern design capability as well as future trends through our works,” he said.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
RSS