Exhibition of Chinese Ceramic Masterworks of Famous Kilns Opened at "Top of Shanghai"

On Dec. 20 (local time), an art exhibition titled "China Height—Exhibition of Chinese Ceramic Masterworks of Famous Kilns” was opened at the Top Art Space on the 126th floor of Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China. Eighteen national ceramic masters from 15 ceramic kilns in China gathered here to display the latest achievements of the exquisite skills of each famous kiln, a total of 54 artworks, showing the world the "China height" of ceramic techniques. Ruan Li, Deputy Director of Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission, Liu Boying, Deputy Director of the Office of Shanghai Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Leading Group, Jin Mei, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Pudong Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department, Yang Maoduo, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Labor Union of Shanghai Chengtou Group, and some other officials attended the opening ceremony. Gu Jianping, Party Secretary and General Manager of Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd., and Xia Gaosheng, Executive Vice Chairman and Secretary General of Chinese Ceramic Masters Alliance delivered speeches respectively.

Ceramics is China's business card. Contemporary ceramic artisans have made continuous innovation on the basis of meticulous protection and inheritance of traditional ceramic skills. The "China Height" Exhibition of Chinese Ceramic Masterworks of Famous Kilns showcased the latest 54 excellent ceramic artworks. The "Eight Famous Kilns" of China, including Ru, Yaozhou, Ding, Cizhou, Jun, Jingdezhen and Ge, as well as the Tang Tri-color Glazed Ceramics of Luoyang, the Dark-red Enameled Pottery of Yixing, the Hanguang China of Shanghai, the Bone China of Tangshan, the Shiwan Kiln of Foshan, the White Porcelain of Dehua, the Sculpture Porcelain of Zibo, the Celadon of Longquan, and the Ceramic Micro-book of Shantou all displayed their outstanding works. The vessel shapes of the works included jars, vases, pots, basins, screens, sculptures, ceramic print, etc. Every one of them had its own gorgeous features.

This exhibition was sponsored by the Shanghai Tower Construction & Development Co., Ltd. and organized by the Shanghai Xuyousheng Culture and Art Planning Co., Ltd. The exhibition was conceived as a result of a wonderful collaboration six years ago. In 2015, 18 national ceramic masters including Jiang Guoxing and Guo Aihe jointly created the ceramic installation Picture of Happy Fish for the Shanghai Tower, which not only added a treasure to the lobby of the tower, but also triggered discussions on the mutual reference and integration of different ceramic techniques in the industry. Under the guidance of relevant authorities in Shanghai, the Shanghai Tower hosted this grand event, which received the enthusiastic response of ceramic masters from major kilns. The average age of the ceramic masters participating in the exhibition was 68. The oldest Chinese arts and crafts master Liu Yuanchang was already 82 years old, but he still brought his works to the exhibition from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi. The exhibition lasted a week from December 20 to December 26.

At the opening ceremony, each of the masters donated a ceramic work to the Shanghai Tower, and the latter presented the masters with a collection certificate. The 18 fine artworks will be permanently collected by the Shanghai Tower. The China Height—Collection of Chinese Ceramic Masterworks of Famous Kilns was also released for the first time at the opening ceremony. In the afternoon, the "Environmental Ceramics Shanghai Forum" was held. More than 50 experts and scholars from inside and outside the industry exchanged their experiences and thoughts of inheritance, innovation and integrated development, discussed the theories and practices of Chinese environmental ceramics creation, and looked into the bright future of China's ceramic industry around the topic of "environmental ceramics and urban elements".