Photo: Courtesy of The Prix Yishu 8 Golden Phoenix

 The Prix Yishu 8 Golden Phoenix, an art award dedicated to promoting exchanges in the handicrafts industry between China and France, was recently held in Beijing.

The 2023 event focuses on lacquer art. A total of 25 Chinese artists, including several inheritors of China's lacquer intangible cultural heritage, were shortlisted for the final. 

Yao Bangliang, a Chinese artist who specializes in weaving the aesthetics of Chinese calligraphy into lacquerware won the award and a two-month residency in Paris, France. 

Lei Geye, the event's co-founder, told the Global Times that she hopes Yao can communicate with people in France in depth about his art, to carry on his study of traditional Chinese lacquer skills while also bringing new art expressions into the classic art form. 

The special history of China as the world's first country to use lacquer brought the award diverse participants such as Ma Jing, an artist fluent in the luodian lacquer art from Shanxi Province. Luodian is a special technique that inlays seashells in different patterns on lacquerware. 

The award has been carried out since 2019. 

The event was co-launched by Golden Phoenix, a foundation dedicated to promoting art and scientific development, and Yishu 8, an art organization that has promoted Chinese and French art since its establishment in 2009. 

Global Times