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A Canton porcelain painting workshop led by a young Hongkonger breathes life into a dying art form
Also known as guangcai, the colourful ceramics were a major export item through the Qing dynasty to the 1980s
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Dixon Ngai dips a bamboo brush into orange paint before making a clean line on a porcelain plate, a stroke he has performed thousands of times.
Hong Kong-born Ngai is a contemporary artisan specialising in Canton porcelain, also known as guangcai, a style of hand-painted ceramics that is known for its delicate patterns and bright colours. The porcelain fed the huge export market during the Qing dynasty, and was one of the major forms of exportware produced in China in the 18th and 20th centuries.
He is only 24 but Ngai has been practising guangcai for almost a decade, determined from a young age to keep alive a dying art that is part of Hong Kong’s unique cultural heritage. “We have a responsibility to take charge of this tradition, to continue this brand of Hong Kong culture,” he says.
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To help breathe new life into an old tradition, Ngai teaches the basic techniques of porcelain painting through workshops at Crafts on Peel, a creative space in Central’s Peel Street. A tea ceremony conducted by a tea master using the Canton-style porcelain is held after each session.
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Hong Kong once had a thriving porcelain industry but today only Yuet Tung China Works, in Kowloon Bay, remains. Founded in 1928, Yuet Tung – where Ngai started his apprenticeship aged just 15 – employed more than 300 workers at its peak in the 1940s, before business died off in the 80s in the face of competition from mainland China
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