Taiwan is only a strait away from China where lacquer art has been developing for thousands of years, but it was not until the Japanese rule in the 20th century that we start to see lacquer art and lacquer industry on the island. The beginning of lacquer art in Taiwan also marks a journey on geography, meteorology, craftsmanship, aesthetics and local culture.
With Taichung as the center, we can go to its neighboring cities, such as Miaoli, Hsinchu, and Nantou, and see a lot about lacquer industry that represents not only its developments, but also its relationship with the community and people’s lives in different times. Out of which, many traces of history of lacquer art have been gone due to transfer of political powers, economic reasons and transformation of manufacturing process, while a lot of work aiming to revitalize the industry could also be seen at the same time.
We try to do it chronologically here, walking the readers through from how lacquer art was brought to Japan from China to the recent years when the artists in Taiwan were working with designers from North Europe. This is how we have come to where we are today after a hundred years after lacquer art was first introduced here in Taiwan. Furthermore, this process shows how people from different cultural backgrounds and countries interact and exchange experiences with each other, and highlights the value of cultural exchange and continuous dialogue.
With the focus on Penglai lacquer ware, we take the readers on a journey to explore the early developments of lacquer art in Taiwan. During the Japanese rule, Japanese grew lacquer trees and produced lacquer products. The success of Penglai ware featuring local elements gave birth to the launch of Taichung City Craft Workshop in 1928 that ran for 19 years. More and more attention started to go to lacquer art and that is how the first generation of Taiwan's lacquer artists came from. It was the starting point of lacquer art and culture in Taiwan.
This is the transcript of a talk given by the retired professor of Tokyo University of the Arts, Mitamura Arisumi in the seminar held during Taiwan and Kagawa Lacquer Art Exchange Exhibition. He went from the historical background of lacquer art in China, Japan and Taiwan to the great contributions of Yamanaka Tadasu in promoting lacquer art and nurturing local talent. As an ending note, he looked forward to more substantial exchanges between Taiwan and Japan 100 years after master Yamanaka first initiated the movement of lacquer art in Taiwan, and how that could take the development of lacquer art in the world to the next level.
We comb through how the traditional skills of Taiwan’s lacquer art have been passed down over the years here. Starting from the time of Japanese rule when Yamanaka Tadasu launched a lacquer art workshop that incubated many of his pupils who became the first generation of local lacquer artists in Taiwan and produced the Penglai ware well received by the market from the 1960’s to 70’s when the industry declined, and gradually found its way back again after the 1980’s, the Taiwan Provincial Handicraft Research Institute (National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute now) spared no efforts trying to revive Taiwan’s lacquer art by inviting senior artists to share what they’ve got with the young, as well as fostering innovation in the industry, and eventually ushered in a new era for lacquer art of Taiwan.
We are exploring how Taiwan and Kagawa Lacquer Art Exchange Exhibition was planned and organized in 2018, and how it became a must-visit event in Kagawa. Lacquer art was first developed in Taiwan back in the time of Japanese rule. It was the pioneer of lacquer art at that time – late Yamanaka Tadasu who selflessly shared his knowledge and nurtured many students to carry on this beautiful tradition in Taiwan. In 2013, Yamanaka Yoshiko, daughter of master Yamanaka donated her father’s 162 lacquer works to the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute. With these collections, the NTCRI thought it was a great opportunity to look back on the history of lacquer art in Taiwan. In 2018, Taiwan and Kagawa Lacquer Art Exchange Exhibition was held not only to further the exchanges of lacquer art between Taiwan and Japan, but also in memory of the 70th anniversary after master Yamanaka passed away.
To promote lacquer art, the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) has launched several projects in recent years, including the one on developing lacquer products with the designers from Sweden and Japan, as well as international exhibitions/events. In terms of talent cultivation, the NTCRI not only provides a great variety of courses, but also invites craft artists from Japan, Myanmar and Vietnam over to exchange experiences with local artists. It also works with local governments to hold workshops to explore the use of mixed media in lacquer works that reflect the beauty of local culture. It is hoped that doing this can help create a whole new style of lacquer art that fits right in our daily life.