Founder of the Hong-Gah museum, Mr. Andrew Chew has started collecting artworks since the 1980s in Chinese Ink Arts, while also actively supporting emerging contemporary artists in Taiwan. In 1999, the Hong-Gah Museum was established, and his collection has hence grown to encompass an excellent compilation of artistic media, ranging from ink-wash, calligraphy, oil paint, acrylic, watercolor, pencil drawing, printmaking, mixed-media, sculpture, new media installation, video art, photography, etc., whereas the most distinguished among all is the embroidery collection.
Embroidery art has originated from practical usages in day-to-day lives, such as decorations in clothing, interior design, and appliances. Throughout years of development, we could learn of the aesthetics from different eras and how embroidery has taken an artistic turn from pragmatic custom to a more refined and sophisticated form of art. Needles and threads weaving backward and forward in the hands of the skillful embroidery artists have vividly represented the brushwork from those original ink wash paintings. Moreover, the lustrous qualities of the woven threads have also brought the embroidery works to life as they stand out stereoscopically like embossments. Hong-Gah Museum is home to nearly 500 pieces of 1980s embroidery artworks of great techniques and forms, where this private collection is also said to be the most comprehensive and abundant in all Asia.
The winter collection exhibition showcases exquisite embroidered pieces related to Buddhism. It invites viewers to enter a state of introspection and tranquility within themselves as the season transitions into winter. To provide a dynamic and aesthetically immersive environment for our audiences, the Hong-Gah Museum regularly rotates and updates the exhibits shown. We hope that through appreciating arts from different perspectives could further enrich and cultivate our lives.