Eyes on the Past and Future
urniture, an essential part of human living space, has a history nearly as long as human civilization. Today, numerous creative furniture designs emerge every year, forming new popular trends and leading lifestyles. In October 2016, the Chinese version o
FContemporaryfurniture Design – From Cultural Appreciation to
Chunzaicreativity was published by the Forbidden City Publishing House. It was authored by Jerry J. I. Chen, an internationally renowned artwork connoisseur and founder of the Chinese furniture brand “Chunzai.” The book is dubbed the cornerstone of design aesthetics for contemporary Chinese furniture. Its English version, published by Foreign Languages Press, was released in November 2018.
Chunzai furniture designed by Chen represents a successful example of China’s modern cultural and creative industry. The cultural and creative industry, with creativity as the core, first emerged as an idea in Britain in the 1990s. This idea gradually evolved into a developmental concept that realized enormous economic benefits during the process of merging with other industries. In his book Thecreative Economy: Howpeople Make Money
fromideas , British economist John Howkins pointed out that creative industries around the world produce around US$22 billion every day, a figure which is growing by five percent year- on-year. In its 13th Five-year Plan (2016-2020), China made the cultural and creative industry a development priority for the future.
Born in Taiwan, Jerry J. I. Chen began working in the field of cultural relic appraisal in Hong Kong in 1985. Over the past three decades, he has appraised numerous world- class and exceptional artworks. In 1999, he became a member of the Vetting Committee for New York-based International
Asian Art Fair – the only Chinese person in the committee back then. Also in the 1990s, he shifted towards contemporary furniture design from artwork appraisal. In 2004, he established the furniture brand “Chunzai” in Shanghai. By establishing a brand name of contemporary Chinese furniture with a strong personal style, Chen aimed to show the world new Chinese aesthetics, a refined taste of contemporary Chinese consumers, and new cultural ideals of the country.
Chen believes that contemporary and classical Chinese furniture share an inextricable lineage. The evolution of furniture embodies the historical development of human wisdom, from simple to profound. China’s furniture culture is colorful yet sated with wisdom. Chen’s contemporary furniture innovation realized with Chunzai was established around his deep and multi-faceted understanding of traditional Chinese furniture.
The furniture in the style of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) has been
globally recognized as a representative of China’s furniture culture. Using a new cultural perspective and a contemporary expression that better suits creative design, Chen uses the book to elaborate on the eight core values of the Ming Dynasty furniture, analyzes the 10 critical aspects of Chinese furniture design and investigates the creative possibilities of contemporary furniture. He asserts that it is absolutely possible for contemporary creative designers to eclipse both Western and classical Chinese furniture as they construct new living aesthetics and new cultural tastes for a new era.
Accomplishing innovation in the contemporary era by learning from tradition is the innovative path for the furniture industry promoted by Chen in this book. Chou Kung-shin, former director
of the Taipei-based National Palace Museum wrote the preface for Chen’s book. “It is most commendable that Chen has published the fruits of his three decades of research on furniture as a book, which will be an indispensable source for future furniture design students,” Chou wrote. “These students will in turn use their knowledge of cultures and creativity to generate a richer variety of culturally creative products.”
This mission also conforms to Chen’s original intention in writing the book. He hopes this book will be useful for practitioners in the furniture industry as well as people engaged in the cultural and creative industry. He expects the book to help China form new cultural features in the new era and usher in a golden era of cultural prosperity.