Category Archives: Oriental art

The Far-Reaching Fragrance of Tea: The Art and Culture of Tea in Asia, Southern Branch of the Taiwan National Palace Museum

The appreciation is a lifestyle, a fashion, an art, and a culture; it is a shared language of tea connoisseurs. The originated in China, and methods of tea making have undergone centuries of change, as have the equipment and the manner in which the tea has been enjoyed. In ancient…

Discover Asia in the Eyes of Jade, Southern Branch of the Taiwan National Palace Museum

Most of the Asian Jade artifacts of the National Palace Museum are from the Qing Court’s collection. Those exquisite jade artifacts not only shone with dazzling brilliance, more importantly, they spiced up the court culture with exotic cultures and diversified traditional carving techniques of jade objects. After conquering the Dzungarian…

Imprints of Buddhas: the Buddhist Art Collection, Southern Branch of the Taiwan National Palace Museum

Buddhism originated in India in the sixth century BCE and underwent more than 1,700 years of development on the subcontinent before the Muslim invasion of the late twelfth century. In the process, Buddhism evolved and its teachings became more and more systematic. With the support of Indian ruling houses and…

Wearing Asia, The Exchange and Creation of Textiles, Southern Branch of the Taiwan National Palace Museum

Fabric is essential for tailoring clothes. Before the Industrial Revolution, the production of textile was done in a very small scale and mostly at home. Nowadays, there are various ready made textile products available in the market, and people no longer have to work at a loom. As a result,…

Nature and Human in Unison, the Smart Carvings of Jade and Beautiful Stones, Taiwan National Palace Museum

Pursuing optimal equilibrium and harmony between human and nature has always been a key concept in Chinese aesthetics. When it is embodied in the art of jade carving, fitting the design to the material and its inherent property is the guiding principle. In short, the principle means that the natural…

Uncanny Ingenuity and Celestial Feats, The Carving of Ming and Qing Dynasties, Taiwan National Palace Museum

Carving is one of the oldest crafts developed by mankind. Archaeological excavations and literature sources show that early primitive societies had already learned to make utilitarian or decorative objects out of materials readily available in nature, such as jade, stone, bamboo, wood, ivory, horn, and bone. Different materials, comprised of…

Sharing Treasures, A Special Exhibition of Antiquities Donated Collection, Taiwan National Palace Museum

Collecting and preserving cultural relics is one of the main tasks for a museum institution. In addition to inheriting the Qing imperial collection, the National Palace Museum acquires cultural articles by two other means—purchase and donation—to enrich its collections. Among various types of acquisition, acceptance of donations is one of…

Rituals Cast in Brilliance, Masterpieces of Bronzes in the Museum Collection, Taiwan National Palace Museum

The Bronze Age of China started in the late Xia dynasty (c. early 17th century B.C.E.), lasting about 1,500 years through several dynasties from Shang to Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou. Even after the subsequent emergence of iron in Qin and Han dynasties, bronzes continued to be in use. During…

Shifting Grounds, Siapa Nama Kamu? Art in Singapore since the 19th Century, National Gallery Singapore

Shifting Grounds takes a historical overview of the significant shifts in art practice in Singapore from the 1970s to 2000s. Alternative art practices exploded onto the Singapore art scene in the second half of the 1980s to counter the dominant systems of art at the time. Artists shifted away from…

New Languages, Siapa Nama Kamu? Art in Singapore since the 19th Century, National Gallery Singapore

The exhibition “Siapa Nama Kamu?” opens with a meticulous exploration of those Western artistic influences that first informed Singapore’s contemporary art scene; gradually, through its graceful exposition of Singapore’s historical, social and artistic transformations, the show ultimately reveals the country’s subtle growth towards a unique aesthetic identity. New Languages: 1960s…

Real Concerns and Tradition Unfettered, Siapa Nama Kamu? Art in Singapore since the 19th Century, National Gallery Singapore

The act of creating the inaugural long-term display for the DBS Singapore Gallery (Singapore Gallery) has entailed significant discussions with art historians, critics, artists and curators on the topic of “modernism” in Singapore, ranging from what definitions, terminologies and technologies one may adopt, to whether there is a specific story…

Tropical Tapestry and Nanyang Reverie, Siapa Nama Kamu? Art in Singapore since the 19th Century, National Gallery Singapore

The opening of the National Gallery Singapore comes at a time of great significance for Singapore, in her 50th year of independence. What is the relationship of art to a nation like Singapore and how can we understand its role in the last fifty years? These are some of the…