Hsinchu City, located in northern Taiwan, is best known for its strong winds, world-class science park, rice noodles and meatballs. What is little appreciated is that the city is also the center of the nation’s glass industry.
The origins of glass manufacturing in Hsinchu can be dated precisely, to 1925, when Liao Chi-ming set up the Synthetic Glass Factory to make everyday glass products such as fishing floats, oil lamps, military signal lamps and medicine bottles.
Many other glass factories sprouted up in Hsinchu in the decades that followed. It was a natural development: blessed with an abundance of silica sand, the raw material for glass, the city was ideally poised to become a glass-manufacturing hub.
But in the 1980s there came a precipitous decline, when the focus of the nation’s economy shifted from traditional manufacturing to high-tech. Instead of going to Hsinchu to work in the glass industry, the younger generation now went there with the intention of working in its chip-wafer plants.
The rise in operation costs and especially wages, coupled with the revaluation of the nation’s currency all contributed to the downfall of the glass industry, according to Lin Jung-chou, director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu City.
Determined not to give in without a fight, glass practitioners got together to think of ways to transform their industry. Their solution was to make it more creative, and in this they were fully in agreement with the general spirit of their age.
“It so happens that during the late 1980s the concept of ‘cultural industrialization, industrial culturalization’ was beginning to take shape in Taiwan,” Lin noted. “With the help of the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs, glass craft was approved as one of the signature industries of Hsinchu in 1990.”
“Since then, the local government has combined tourism with art in the hopes of upgrading the development of the glass industry in a more creative fashion,” he continued, adding that it was under this goal that the Glass Art Festival was first hosted in 1995. Since then, the festival has taken place every two years.
The Eighth Hsinchu City International Glass Art Festival, which runs from July 31 to Sept. 19 in Hsinchu, features exhibitions of glass artworks by local and foreign artists, demonstrations of the art of glass crafting by masters in the field, tours about glass art in the city and a do it yourself workshop. The theme of the exhibition is glass art and green energy.
According to Lin, the Glass Art Creativity Pavilion, a new addition to the exhibition this year, was set up in accordance with the spirit of the Cultural Creativity Act, passed by the Legislature in January.
The purpose of the pavilion is to encourage visitors to reflect on the dual aspects of glass: not only is it extremely practical and pervasive in everyday life; it is also a very creative medium, which, when handled properly, can be made into artwork that can be displayed and collected.
“In terms of creativity, the festival this year is quite different from the ones we held before,” said Shao Tsun-han, a glassmaker and president of the Han Min Crystal Workshop. “In the past, glass artists mostly created pieces according to the needs of their customers, who sent in their blueprints from abroad; but local glass artists these days are showing more of their own creativity.”
“I feel a whole new creative environment has arisen, and that applies to all aspects of the process—whether we’re talking about molding, concepts, aesthetics or use of materials,” Shao said.
Marvin Lipofsky, an American glass artist and an initiator of the American Glass Studio Movement in the 1960s, complimented the festival this year for its great improvement over previous ones. “He said during the early years of the festival, the artworks mostly focused on dragons or horses, but this year, the concepts applied in creating a piece were much more diverse,” Shao noted.
Dai Qiu-mei’s “Cycle of Rain,” a fascinating work that won first prize in the complex material category of the Golden Glass Competition Award, is an example of this new creative spirit.
“The metal part of the piece is like the trunk of a tree, with its roots grasping the earth, while the glass at the top represents the clouds. Together the two parts form an abstract image of the rain cycle,” Shao explained.
Other works exhibited include “New Born” by Huang Mei-xin, “How Much Painkiller Can You Take?” by Chang Jing-zhi, “Good Morning, Grandpa” by Lin Chiung-han and of course, “Night Sky” by Shao himself.
According to Shao, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu City has worked to promote creative products this year. The Golden Glass Award Competition was held with the intention of picking out 20 glass artworks which could be mass produced and sold. The purpose of the competition is to market the glass industry and give it a distinctive brand and identity.
“We hope that whenever people see glass, they will think of Hsinchu City,” Lin noted.
“To me, glass is very attractive,” Shao said. “It is extremely diverse aesthetically. For example, if we wanted to we could make glass have the texture and feel of ceramics.”
“Besides, the material can be widely applied and it relates to our daily lives. Look at the straw I’m using right now, or these plates, this partition; they are all made from glass,” he said, as he gestured toward his surroundings.
“What’s best about glass is that, unlike plastic, it can be recycled and is environmentally friendly,” Shao pointed out.
Thanks to the dedication and ingenuity of Shao and countless others like him, the glass industry in Taiwan no longer appears moribund.
“We are now working on ways to attract more visitors to the festival, especially foreigners. In addition, our goal is to produce more creative pieces with a higher surplus value,” Shao said.
If the last few years are any guide, Shao should have very little problem reaching this goal. And perhaps one day in the future when people think of Hsinchu, the first thing that comes to mind will be its fine glassware.
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw