Posted on 02/12/2008 by paul Liao
This project is about promoting Chinese culture through traditional Chinese furniture, particularly, a Ming Dynasty antique chair, an ‘official’s hat chair with four protruding ends’. The purpose of this work is to discover the relationship between Chinese culture and the chair. Furthermore, to introduce the readers to the idea of traditional Chinese furniture not merely providing visual pleasantness, but also meaningful cultural messages. Chinese culture has become more and more popular in the West in this decade. On the international auction market, a pair of Huanghuali (rosewood) chairs was sold for about 50,000 pounds. Although my personal interest is in drawing chairs, the main inspiration for this project arose from an opportunity that I attend a lecture on the taste of traditional Chinese scholars. One of the subjects of the lecture was the Chinese antique chair which became the main form in this project. Due to that experience, It prompted me to begin focusing on Chinese traditions which are part of my culture and background. Further to that, it would seem that the promotion of Chinese arts would be the path that I would take for my future career.
