An ongoing exhibition of ceramics by more than 20 contemporary Chinese artists is changing the way local audiences view the traditional art.

Ceramics made by these artists are different from, although not necessarily better than, those made by their Chinese ancestors, often only seen by Americans in museum collections.

They are not bowls, plates and vases with elegant patterns and smooth surfaces. They are not from any "official kiln (guanyao)," or kilns from the Song, Ming or Qing dynasties. And don't expect to find them with seals bearing words such as "Made in Qianlong Period" or even "Made in China."

They are a little more modern. They are a little Western. But they are from China, made by Chinese ceramics artists and reflecting what's happening in China's ceramics community nowadays.

The exhibition "Chinese Ceramics Today: Between Tradition and Contemporary Expression" is being staged at the University of Hawaii Art Gallery until February 13. It was organized by the Ariana Museum in Geneva, Switzerland and the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou, China.

Before Honolulu, the exhibition had made stops at the Ariana Museum, the Denmark Keramik Museum, and a number of galleries in the United States. The next and final stop of the exhibition will be the Hong Kong Science & Technology University in Hong Kong, where it will be showing from March 19 to April 19.

"The University of Hawaii Art Gallery is pleased to be one of the six international museums selected to host this important exhibition," said Tom Klobe, director of the gallery. "The exhibition presents a rare opportunity for our students and the people of Hawaii to see and experience current developments in the area of ceramics within China."

According to Klobe, this exhibition has special meaning for Hawaiians because of the sizable community of Chinese immigrants who have relocated there over the years.

"These immigrants, their children, and their children's children have nurtured an interest in and respect for the culture of the land of their origin," Klobe said. "And, because the Chinese of Hawaii are our friends and families, concern for China and its traditions have always been an important aspect of our multi-faceted culture."

He told China Daily that there has been a rising interest in contemporary Chinese art on the Hawaiian islands in recent years. "This is the first time that a group show of contemporary Chinese ceramics is being staged in our gallery," Klobe said. "It has been warmly welcomed since its opening."

I-chi Hsu, a Beijing ceramics expert who curated the international exhibition, added that the art of producing contemporary Chinese ceramics has emerged since studio artists appeared in the country in the 1990s.

For centuries, traditional Chinese ceramics have been produced by anonymous artisans. Instead of being creative art works, traditional ceramics are often objects for daily use.

But contemporary ceramic artists are making art to express themselves. In this exhibition, about 80 per cent of the works are purely for artistic enjoyment.

The range of influences including traditional materials and techniques are extensive in these contemporary works.

"Patterns from major ceramic bases such as Jingdezhen and Yixing can be easily found in the works, which is rare in ceramics from abroad," Hsu said.

Many young Chinese ceramics artists are influenced by Western art concepts and often emphasize distorted shapes and striking visual effects in their works.

But artists such as Lu Bing, Bai Ming and Huang Lizhen have managed to incorporate traditional Chinese art elements into their experiments, adding a distinctive Chinese flavor to their works.

In Hong Kong artist Chris Lo's work "Studying the Order (I)," 10 ceramic containers of different shapes and sizes are installed in a curved line. The clean and white color of the surfaces of the containers, coupled with their dark and rough insides as well as the black background create an interesting contrast, reminding viewers of the notion of yin and yang in traditional Chinese philosophy.

It is a work made with obvious Chinese wisdom.

"Just like ink, the medium of ceramics bears some special meaning in Chinese culture," said Guangdong Museum of Art Director Wang Huangsheng. "So-called 'modern ceramics' are based on this traditional medium, but have added some contemporary aesthetic significance to it."

The international show is the fourth large-scale exhibition of contemporary Chinese ceramics organized by the Guangdong Museum of Art since 1997.

(China Daily February 9, 2004)