Exhibition Title: Colored Glaze Artworks from China
At China Cultural Centre, 173 Melita Street, Valletta
Mon 12 - Fri 30 Aug 2019 (Except Public Holidays)
Opening Times: 9:00 -12:30 ; 14:30 - 17:00
Entrance is Free
Glass is an inorganic material made from a molten mixture of natural
silica sand, sodium carbonate, and lime. Over a long stretch of time,
humans have experimented with different additives to produce glass of
new types and higher quality. As one of the earliest man-made
materials, glass shines with different colors in different places
through the long course of civilizational development and fusion.
Glass is living proof of exchanges between the East and the West. As
far back as over 2,000 years ago, glass came into existence in China.
The sheer quantity of faience objects and glass beads unearthed
evidence of the early contact between oriental and occidental
cultures. In 200 BC, the flourishing Silk Road pushed such exchanges
to a new high. From 3rd to 7th century AD, blown glass from the
Sasanian Empire became a symbol of wealth for Chinese nobility. Glass
blowing technology thus managed to thrive in a short period.
Since the 13th century AD, colored glass, known to the Chinese as
Liuli, has been mass-produced in Zibo City of Shandong Province and
other places in China. Among the best is Boshan Liuli (literally,
“colored glass from Boshan District”). Made from locally abundant
raw materials like silicon dioxide, calcium fluoride, and potassium
nitrate, Boshan Liuli may appear yellow, purple-and-black, scarlet, or
green.
The development of Liuli industry and art relies both on technical
inheritance and exploration. As Liuli is being purified and polished
by the endless river of civilizations, liuli-making techniques are
becoming increasingly controllable and mature. Two sets of such
techniques have so far taken shape, namely hot forming and cold
processing. Based on local resources, Boshan Liuli is produced through
traditional techniques like interior painting, blowing, fiber
placement, and overlay carving. Carving is conducted after the forming
of Liuli. It is an intricate technique consisting of a dozen steps,
including blowing, overlay, carding, grinding, patterning, waxing,
contouring, frosting, relief grinding, engraving, and polishing.
Interior painting is a distinctly Chinese form of art. Sticking a
purpose-built slim pen into a pea-sized hole, the artist is able to
paint exquisite patterns inside a glass or crystal pot. Boshan
District is the cradle of Shandong-style interior painting. So far, it
has contributed nearly 50 interior painting masters at a provincial or
higher level. When it comes to Boshan Liuli, hot forming typically
involves traditional techniques like blowing, forming, extension,
sticking, twisting, and drawing. In an instant, it turns
high-temperature molten glass into a desired shape.
Since the day it was invented, glass, with its unique composition and
aesthetic connotation, has been conjured into countless art treasures.
As glass-making techniques are gradually maturing, glass is finding
wider applications and taking different forms. In no way can such a
trend escape the eyes of artists, who tend to express their own
feelings and creative ideas through glass sculptures and
installations. Spanning interior and exterior painting, carving, hot
forming, blowing and other creative art forms, Boshan Liuli fuses
traditional aesthetic values and craftsmanship with modern taste.
Carving enables Boshan Liuli to describe rare animals or classical
buildings, landscape or stories, while interior painting attains a
degree of intricacy which is seemingly beyond human power. Boshan
Liuli is, therefore, heralded as a “peculiar, magnificent,
collectable” category of Chinese art.
This exhibition contains 30 works independently created by Chinese
Liuli artists, which encompass such techniques as interior and
exterior painting, blowing, and carving. Blending the spirit and theme
of traditional handicrafts with the temper of the times, the
exhibition unveils the beauty of Liuli based on the time-honored
oriental culture and modern creative art.
This exhibition is co-organized by China Cultural Centre in Malta and
Network of International Culuralink Entities; Supported by Zibo
Municipial Bureau of Culture and Tourism and the People`s Government
of Boshan district, Zibo City, Shandong Province; Sponsored by Beijing
Harmony & Nonuniformity Cultural Investment Co. Ltd.
China Cultural Centre in Malta
· Phone: +356 21225055
· Email: maltaccc@gmail.com
· Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cccmalta/
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31/08/2019 Last update