Sculptor CH’NG Huck Theng achieved another milestone in his art career when invited for his first solo exhibition entitled ‘IMPerfect Creation’ in Singapore at MOCA (Museum Of Contemporary Art) @ Loewen. Guest of Honour for the official opening of IMPerfect Creation was H.E. High Commissioner to Singapore Dato Zulkifli Adnan. Dato Zulkifli in his speech praised the hard work the artist had put into creating ‘ugly’ pieces that are beautiful if one actually took the time to understand the concept of … ’if one cannot see ugly, one cannot see beauty’.

CEO of MOCA@Loewen further added that this is the first time the institution hosted a top Malaysian sculptor and he believed that the artist would do well as he was not only a creator but also a thinker. 16 very interesting bronze sculptures that captured a lot of interest and attention. The event was attended by art lovers, collectors and friends.

雕塑艺术家庄学腾受邀在新加坡 MoCA@Loewen-当代艺术博物馆举行个人特展“美丽与丑陋创作 – IMPerfect Creation”，这是他艺术生涯的又一个里程碑。而驻新加坡高级专员拿督 Zulkifli Adnan 阁下担任开幕嘉宾，他在开幕演讲中高度赞扬这位艺术家在创作时所付出的心血，他认为，如果真正花点时间理解“丑陋”的概念，会发现美丽，但如看不到丑陋，那么同样看不到美丽。MoCA@Loewen 的首席执行官进一步补充说，这是该机构首次举办马来西亚顶级雕塑家的作品展，他相信艺术家本身的实力，因为他不仅是一个创作者，而且是一个思想者。16件精彩创意的展出青铜雕塑作品吸引了许多目光和关注。艺术爱好者、收藏家和朋友们皆出席观赏这项展出。

Text & Images by Kessarin Saebe

For antique porcelain collectors, Bencharong ware refers to the enameled Chinese export porcelain for the Thai market, which in some ways resembles Nyonya ware or the Straits Chinese Paranakan porcelain.

Bencharong ware is basically enameled colours over glaze on White porcelain. Bencharong shards were found from archaeological excavations in Ayutthaya (the former capital of Thailand) which dated back to 17th/18th century. In those days, Bencharong ware was in use along with imported Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Nowadays, antique Bencharong dishes and shards can also be found as decoration in some temple ruins in Ayutthaya. Chinese characters reign marks were also found on some bowls.

Even though Bencharong means five colours, the colours decorated on the ware sometimes exceed five. The colours used in decoration are mainly in red, yellow and green; black, pink, purple, orange, blue and dark blue are added on after. In the early 19th century, the use of gold wash appeared with the colour enamels and was called Bencharong “Lai Nam Thong” type.

The forms of Bencharong ware include bowl, covered bowl, stem plate, dish, box, cup, covered jar, teapot, tea set, spittoon, tray, spoon, brush washer, candle stick, incense burner, planter, and drum. The decoration consists of unique Thai motifs, inspired by flowers and animals, mythological creatures from Buddhism and Hinduism, scenes from Thai literature and Thai textile motifs.

At present, Bencharong ware is still in production, some workshops produce them following the old designs while others develop their own forms and motifs.

对于古董瓷器收藏者来说 Bencharong 指的是中国外销到泰国市场的珐琅瓷器，这也类似于娘惹器皿或海峡华人的Peranakan瓷器。

而在白瓷器上涂上釉彩是Bencharong最鲜明的特征。在Ayutthaya-大城府(泰国的前首都)的考古发掘中发现Bencharong碎片，可追溯到17或18世纪。在当时，Bencharong瓷器是和中国还有日本进口的瓷器混合使用。如今，在大城府的一些寺庙废墟中，也可以发现装饰着古老Bencharong碟子和碎片，一些碗盘上也发现了中文汉字。

尽管Bencharong在泰文中是“五种颜色”的意思，但有时装饰瓷器的颜色会超过五种。装饰用的颜色主要为红、黄、绿三种；加上黑色、粉色、紫色、橙色、蓝色和深蓝色。19世纪早期，出现一种黄金彩釉的方式，被称为 “Lai Nam Thong” 刷金图案。

而这些器皿用具包括碗、盖碗、阀杆、盘、杯、盖罐、茶壶、茶具、痰盂、托盘、汤匙、刷洗器、烛台、香炉、花盆和鼓。大部分由独特的泰式图案组成，灵感来自于大自然花朵和动物，还有佛教和印度教的神话生物，泰国文学和花纹图案的场景。

目前，Bencharong瓷器仍有在生产推出，一些工艺作坊是按照旧有设计，而另一些则发展自创的形式和图案。

Next to the war stricken Sudan is a very interesting place in Ethiopia called Omo Valley. Adventurous travellers find this destination exciting yet with a touch of life threatening.

The Mursi people lived in an incredible basic society where wealth and status are measured by guns and cattles. Although with an extremely poor and simple culture, AK47 are very common sights for perfect photography with some tokens of appreciations. Best time to explore is before lunch time where after that will be ‘happy hour’!