For the fourth consecutive year, The Arts Bridge has announced winner of the Annal Series for 2021, alongside a day of talks and discussions across cultures and disciplines within arts and design.
Congratulations to this year’s winners who include the principle architect of Zaha Hadid Architects Patrik Schumacher, renowned author of Blossoms Jin Yuchen, painter and printmaker Leng Bingchuan, digital architecture pioneer Xu Weiguo and fourth generation Japanese bamboo artist Tanabe Chikuunsai.
As the recipient of the Artist of the Year award in 2018, Zhu Yingchun engaged in conversation with one of this year’s winners Tanabe Chikuunsai, whose lifelong exploration of bamboo presents many parallels with Zhu’s work, particularly in its sensitivity to the ever changing and intriguing qualities of nature.
They discussed the development of bamboo arts and book design in recent years and the challenges each artist faces within their respective field. While Chinkuusai continues to practise traditional bamboo weaving techniques passed down through his family, his search for significance in the modern age has led him to innovative through his spectacular large-scale bamboo installations. Similarly, Chikuunsai remarked on the strong artistic qualities of Zhu Yingchun’s books which demonstrate a drive away from the functionality of books and a move towards books as a medium for artistic expression.
The Arts Bridge, as the name implies, endeavours to create links between artists, designers and innovators in China and further afield through publishing art books internationally in Chinese and English. A link to the website can be found below:
