Taiwan’s world-class National Palace Museum (NPM) has opened a separate branch to display a treasure trove of artifacts gathered from across Asia including a sculpture by an Iranian artist.
Acclaimed artist Kambiz Sabri’s sculpture ‘To the Best of My Memory’ is the only Iranian artwork among the three sculptures installed in the open grounds of the museum, Honaronline reported.
Inaugurated on December 28, the Museum of Asian Art and Culture, the southern branch of Taiwan’s largest museum, is located in the southern county of Chiayi.
To fill its open space with modern artworks, the museum organized a competition four months ago, to select three sculptors and display their works in the garden.
Sabri was among the preliminary 14 competitors whose designs were approved in the first stage and in the end, he was chosen as one of the three finalists. His sculpture-like structure, placed next to the museum’s lake, is made up of fiberglass, painted iron sheets and mirrored stainless steel.
The work represents a continuation of Sabri’s ‘Good Memories’ series, using ordinary cushions and mattresses to form a safe space for human imagination. These surfaces softly and comfortably envelop us, much as a newborn cradled in its mother’s arms, recreating a beautiful and safe space from memory.
The work’s wind tower appearance is inspired by Iran’s traditional spires, recreated through stacks of modern cushions. The artist has integrated a traditional architectural motif which is gradually disappearing in Iran with his customary mediums, including cushions, mattresses and other familiar objects to build a world of one’s own.
There is a poem by Rumi engraved on the surfaces of the base piece which says, “The universe and us, renewed with every breath”.
Sabri, 48, is a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran. He has participated in several art exhibitions and taught in art faculties, designed award statuettes for different festivals, organized art exhibitions and helped coordinate the Iran Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennial.
Unlike the northern branch in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital, which focuses on the art of Chinese dynasties through the ages, the new branch exhibits artworks from Korea, Japan, India, the Islamic world and other parts of Asia.
The project, with an area of about 68 hectares, is made up of a museum building, a green park and a lake.
