In recent years, the internationally renowned British Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has been collecting Taiwanese contemporary craft, featuring ceramist Chang Ching-yuan's (張清淵) "Rock with No Name" series, and the patented high purity titanium artwork "Zen" by jewelry artist Aka Chen (陳智權).
This year, the selected work "Rock with No Name" series reinterprets traditional Chinese 'scholar rocks' in colorful ceramics and places them in transparent display cases or on balance scales, as if they were observational subjects in an experiment, serving as a metaphor for the sense of dislocation in Taiwanese culture and a reflection on its inherent subjectivity.
The V&A website pointed out that Chang used a technique of applying color similar to lacquering, layering on pigments while deliberately leaving some of the underlying hues exposed. This symbolizes how Taiwanese culture is derived from an amalgamation of ancient Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, and indigenous influences. The ruptured appearance of the works signified that Taiwanese cultural identity is still fragmented and in a state of flux.
V&A also acquired the titanium jewelry "Zen" of Chen, who became the first Taiwanese jewelry artist to have works purchased by the museum. Inspired by the motif of magnolias, Chen uses his patented pure titanium to create a three-dimensional sculpture, each part of which can be separated into wearable jewelry. The V&A website commented that the work combines sculptures, installations and jewelry, giving a new definition of jewelry in the 21st century.
V&A has made its collections and exhibits available online. Not only can visitors view the works of Chen and Chang, but also those of others, such as Taiwanese ceramist Liang Jia-haur (梁家豪), and woodcarving master Bai Chang-yi (白滄沂).
Founded in 1852, V&A is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts, and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. The collection policy focuses on current contemporary aesthetics and social changes.
For more information, please visit the V&A official website. To explore Chang Ching-yuan’s work, please visit the page. To explore Aka Chen's work, please visit the page.
享譽國際的英國「維多利亞與亞伯特博物館」（Victoria and Albert Museum, V&A），以豐富的近代工藝與應用藝術藏品聞名，收藏方針著重反映當代美學及社會變化。近年來購藏臺灣當代工藝作品，包括張清淵「莫名石」系列及陳智權的純鈦藝術珠寶，顯現該館對臺灣當代工藝及設計作品的關注。
In recent years, the internationally renowned British Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has been collecting Taiwanese contemporary craft, featuring ceramist Chang Ching-yuan (張清淵)’s "Rock with No Name” series, and jewelry artist Aka Chen (陳智權)’s high purity titanium artwork “Zen.”
This year, the selected work “Rock with No Name” series presents strange stones made of ceramic which are placed in a transparent box or a scale as observation objects. This sense of dislocation implies various reflections on the subjectivity of Taiwanese culture.
The V&A website pointed that Chang used layers of lacquerware techniques and deliberately exposed the underlying hue while painting, which symbolizes the integration of Taiwanese culture with ancient Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, and indigenous cultures. The burst-shaped appearance showcases that Taiwanese have not yet reached a consensus on cultural identity.
The high purity titanium jewelry “Zen” by Aka Chen was stored by V&A last year, and he became the first Taiwanese jewelry artist purchased by the museum. Themed magnolia, the work uses pure titanium to create a three-dimensional sculpture. Each part can be separated into wearable jewelry. The V&A website commented that the work combines sculptures, installations and jewelry, giving a new definition of jewelry in the 21st century.
V&A has made its collections and exhibits available online. Visitors can not only view Chen’s and Chang’s works, but also other Taiwanese artists’ such as ceramist Liang Jia-haur (梁家豪), and woodcarving master Bai Chang-yi (白滄沂).
Founded in 1852, V&A is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts, and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. The collection policy focuses on current contemporary aesthetics and social changes.
For more information, please visit the V&A official website (https://www.vam.ac.uk/).
To explore Chang Ching-yuan’s work, please visit the page (https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1596302/sculpture/).
To explore Aka Chen’s work, please visit the page (https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1522423/zen-sculpture-aka-chen/)