About

A New Layer is an established network
which has been set up – after the Yii
Project curated by Gijs Bakker until 2011 – by a group of talented Swedish designers – Carina Seth Andersson, Matti Klenell, Stina Löfgren, Gabriella Gustafson & Mattias Stählbom – TAF Architects –, in close connection with the NTCRI (National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute), Taiwan. Following the experience of four years of intense relationships between Sweden and Taiwan between 2012 and 2016, Lise Coirier, art director of Pro Materia was appointed as curator to set up A New Layer II, enriching the design-led craft dialogue between Taiwan and the rest of the world. Thanks to this cross-cultural platform of art and design, A New Layer Taiwan has been established in Spring 2018 at the occasion of Design Miami/Basel as an international network enhancing a more uid exchange of knowledge and competencies between highly talented makers from Taiwan (rattached to the NTCRI) and designers coming from Europe and Asia.

Formosa: A New Layer Taiwan meets Yii is a retrospective exhibition of a decade of local and international craft, art and design collaborations with Taiwan, supported by the Taiwanese Cultural Center in Paris, the NTCRI (National Taiwanese Craft Research and Development Institute), the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture and Spazio Nobile / Pro Materia.
In collaboration with: Lobmeyr (AT), Lyngby Porcelæn (DK), Thalie Lab (BE).

Formosa: A New Layer Taiwan meet Yii refers to the ‘Beautiful Island’ (at the time of the Ihla Formosa when the island was occupied by the Portuguese in the middle of the 16th century). It bridges Eastern and Western cultures. This forest-cloaked land that is Taiwan has a strong character and its crafts and qualities are very specific, unique and distinctive including some strong in uences from various cultures such as the ones of the Dutch, the Chinese and the Japanese. Formosa is a title which embraces history, culture, art and design, and the island as a place for creation, including rich dialogues, exchanges and explorations of creative craft and design from here and abroad.
What Yii did in this myth for all China and Taiwan, the modern Taoist priest, still does it for the local community: he recycles the “old energy” (ku- ch’i), and so gives the community a new breath. It is often called the “three virtualities” (san-ts’ai), which refers to the cultural triad of heaven, earth, and man.

Founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of TLmag (°2008), Lise Coirier is running her Creative Design Consultancy Pro Materia since 1999 between Brussels and Paris, which actively promotes contemporary art and design. With Masters in Management & Finance and History of Art, she is also the driving force behind many specialist projects in her field of expertise, acts as art director for private and institutional clients and is often speaker at conference while curating new con- cepts and exhibitions. She has opened since April 2016 Spazio Nobile Gallery in Brussels with her partner Gian Giuseppe Simeone that is specialized in contemporary applied arts, design and photography and organizes four to five exhibitions per year. She also participates to fairs like Collect (London, UK), Collectible, Art Brussels, Art On Paper (Brussels, BE) and Design Miami/Basel.

Rain Wu – Scenography

Rain Wu is an artist currently living and working in Brussels, Maastricht and London. Her work is conceptually driven and materialises in different forms and scales from drawing, sculpture, food performance to architectural installation.
She graduated from the Royal College of Art and University College London. Her art work has been exhibited in Sharjah Biennial, Taipei Biennial, The Palestinian Museum, London Design Biennale, Lisbon Architecture Triennale; she is one of the Designers in Residence at the Design Museum (London) in 2016 and is currently an associate lecturer at Chelsea College of Art (London), an artist in residence at ThalieLab (Brussels) and The Van Eyck (Maastricht).

National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI)

Taiwan possesses a rich, natural and cultural diversity, it has successfully brought together foreign and local arti- sans into the island. With the complete transfer towards agricultural industrialization, Taiwan has experienced an interesting and unique worldwide craftsmanship development. To present Taiwanese crafts to the world, the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) actively promotes collaborations between artisans and designers in order to develop a contemporary craftsmanship. The creativity from the island mixed to the creativity from oversea countriesare di erent yet complementary visions, that we greatly appreciate, and have enriched today’s Taiwanese craft. The NTCRI echoes to the current trend on revival by contributing through its activities, to develop a more aesthetic world and to improve the human well being.

Spazio Nobile