Kaohsiung, Oct. 4 (CNA) A special exhibition titled "Glory of the Tang Prize" kicked off in this southern Taiwan port city Saturday, featuring the stories of five winners in four categories and the medal and diploma designs that were submitted in the prize's design competition.
The "Laureate and Design Exhibition," which will run through Nov. 9 at the National Science and Technology Museum, aims to honor winners in sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law, as well as participants and winners in the design of the prize's medal and diploma.
A series of activities were staged last month across Taiwan to present awards to Gro Harlem Brundtland, winner of the first Tang Prize in Sustainable Development; James Allison and Tasuka Honjo, co-winners of this year's Tang Prize in biopharmaceutical science; Yu Ying-shih, winner of the Tang Prize in Sinology; and Albie Sachs, who won the 2014 Tang Prize in Rule of Law.
Their stories and achievements, which have been widely reported, are now being featured in the Kaohsiung exhibition, along with their manuscripts, papers and books, and personal items like a harmonica and - in the case of Brundtland - a bronze statue.
A total of 61 designers from 15 countries were invited to submit an entry to the diploma and medal design competition. Taiwan's Huang Wei-han was named the "Tang Prize Diploma Designer" and Japanese Fukasawa Naoto the "Tang Prize Medal Designer."
Huang's design features a "door to outstanding achievements" theme that symbolizes the lofty mission of the Tang Prize of carrying human beings into the future. Its bamboo box symbolizes the door of inheritance, sustainable development and the circle of life.
Naoto's single-piece design of spiral curves depicts the structure of DNA, an image of a dragon that speaks of life force and expresses dynamic movement. Although the spiral curves are based on a circular structure, they never return to the same position, giving a sense of infinity that applies to human history, growth and life.
The medal, made from 9999 pure gold, serves as a shining and meaningful award to the most distinguished researcher(s) in each of the four Tang Prize disciplines.
All these designs and life stories of prize winners are shown in a multimedia presentation in a hall at the museum, under a design by the famous artist Tsai Wen-hsiang, who set up a "flying dragon" structure in keeping with the spiral curves of the medal design.
The body of the flying dragon looks like a rolled book in ancient China, curving upward to indicate that there will never be an end to the human pursuit of knowledge, and a civilization that includes the four branches of knowledge honored by the Tang Prize and needed in the 21st century.
The "Glory of Tang Prize -Laureate and Design Exhibition" is being held in Kaohsiung in the hope that its spirit will spread from southern Taiwan and shine throughout the world, said Tang Prize Foundation CEO Chern Jenn-chuan.
(By S.C. Chang)
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