For the Chinese, looking at the past and their ancestors, has been always been valuable source of inspiration for the creation of art objects. We used the word ‘imitation’ in the title of the catalogue, so perhaps you thought, just for a second, that we were referring to fakes or forgeries. In fact it is exactly the opposite; as particularly in China, using earlier examples as source of inspiration, was a mark of respect and honour for what went before. But we know, that from these old sources, new, fabulous and even better objects have been created; often using materials and techniques that have been used and perfected for centuries.
To the Chinese ancient objects, nature and materials have always been a source of great inspiration for creating new work. You can now enjoy these treasures for yourselves – because after all nothing exceeds the wonder of experiencing an art object in real life.
