A Pleasant Surprise from Osaka
Sailing the High Seas: A Special Exhibition of Imari Porcelain Wares, one of the two loan exhibitions curated for the opening of the National Palace Museum (NPM) Southern Branch, was made possible because of a promise made in 2009. Such a promise facilitated the negotiations and discussions between museum personnel from both Taiwan and Japan as well their need to travel between the two nations, ultimately contributing to the perfect presentation of artifacts upon the opening of the NPM Southern Branch.
As scheduled, the NPM Southern Branch officially opened on Dec. 28, 2015. Upon its opening, the NPM Southern Branch introduced 10 major opening exhibitions, which included two international loan exhibitions. Sailing the High Seas: A Special Exhibition of Imari Porcelain Wares, which was organized because of the promises made and fulfilled by directors of the NPM and The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (in Osaka, Japan), introduces porcelains from The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka. The exhibition initiated academic exchanges between the two museums and is an artistic feast for the senses.
This catalogue, written by a team of porcelain scholars from both Taiwan and Japan, included Director Degawa Tetsuro (of The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka), Director Suzuta Yukio (of the Kyushu Ceramic Museum in Saga, Kyushu), Chair Professor Xie Ming-Liang (of the Graduate Institute of Art History, National Taiwan University), and Director Curator Kobayashi Hitoshi (of The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka), provides detailed artifact descriptions from experts to allow readers to gain insight into Imari porcelain wares, a category of artifacts highly representative of Japan. The artifact descriptions include the place of origin of the Imari porcelain wares, raw materials used to make the porcelain wares, the firing of the porcelain wares, and illustrations of the porcelain ware-production process. The Imari porcelain wares, which were originally made using the techniques employed by Korean potters and the designs of Chinese porcelains, subsequently evolved to feature their own unique styles. The story involving how the colorful, gorgeous, enchanting Imari porcelain wares transformed from daily appliances to luxurious palace decorations as well as items sold around the world is fully revealed in this catalogue.