Revamped 2018 Tang Prize winner’s certificates were unveiled June 2 in Taipei City by the designer Irma Boom, a renowned Dutch graphic artist, as part of promotions for the biennial award’s highly anticipated presentation ceremony in September.
The four brightly colored designs, inspired by the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, pay homage to the winners for boldly going where no one has gone before in reaching new academic heights, Boom said.
According to the youngest recipient of the esteemed Gutenberg Prize for book arts, the certificates are simplicity personified and each is folded differently to represent the contrasting direction of the discipline. In addition, they are made using paper sourced from a Swedish manufacturer carrying out a tree planting program to reduce its industrial impact on the planet, Boom said.
The designs were also lauded by Guy Wittich, representative of the Netherlands Trade and Investment office in Taipei, at the unveiling ceremony. This innovative approach symbolizes Taiwan-Netherlands ties and the shared vision of bettering society, he said, adding that it underscores the importance of creativity and culture in both societies.
According to the Tang Prize Foundation, this year’s winners are to be announced June 18-21 in the four categories of biopharmaceutical science, rule of law, sinology and sustainable development. Recipients will receive or share a cash prize of NT$40 million (US$1.34 million), as well as a research grant of up to NT$10 million.
Established by Taiwan entrepreneur Samuel Yin in 2012 and first conferred two years later, the prize takes its name from the Tang dynasty (618-907), a period considered the peak of ancient Chinese civilization characterized by robust international exchanges and cultural activities. (KWS-E)
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