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| Exterior view of the Academy |
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Wood, glass, metal and rope table
in the central courtyard |
While walking around Quzhou yesterday, Ben and I came across the Quzhou Academy in Xiao Xi Men Street.
This academy appears to be part of a larger Quzhou College (衢州书院).
It drew my attention as it appeared to be one of the very few old buildings in Quzhou. Ben knew of it as a gallery, so we decided to go in and have a look.
Immediately on entering it opened into a glass-roofed courtyard, set up with a huge dining table.
It was breathtakingly beautiful and incredibly tastefully decorated. Every small detail had been planned and executed perfectly.
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| Fang Hong, manager |
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A dining room with hand-carved
and highly polished chairs,
and tree stump feature |
The manager, Fang Hong, explained to us that the academy was the brain-child of a sculptor Wang Wei Dong, who has rented the building from the government and turned it into a residence, workshop, gallery and meeting place for artists and the community.
Wang was kind enough to take us on a tour of the academy, starting with the gallery spaces, and then taking us room by room through the building.
It was like an Aladdin’s cave, with each room having its own character, features and purpose.
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| The room with a bar area |
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| Vase with sunflowers |
Everywhere there were pieces of sculpted or polished wood, or design touches that combined to create a unique atmosphere – lighting, texture, shapes, colour, etc.
The ‘bar’ area was covered in wooden battens and small cloth bags for holding bottles of wine.
Even a stunning vase with sunflowers was placed on a massive rectangular wooden block.
The rooms were almost self-contained as small function areas. The photos unfortunately don’t do the place justice.
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Room featuring a huge wooden
table and hand-carved chairs |
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| A room with incongruous elements |
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The calligraphy and
drawing room |
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A hanging painted scroll,
with holes for wine bottles |
One room would have a wall papered with over 100 year old newsprint, another had roof tiles stacked on their sides, another was plastered with exposed wooden poles.
Another room had a feature wooden table, with the table top made from a black piece of wood that Wang said had been underwater for hundreds of years. It reminded me of the wood artists and furniture makers working in Tasmania, or with Tasmanian wood.
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Photograph of Mr. Kong Xiang Kai,
decendent of Confucius (right) |
Even some rooms that contained really incongruous elements seemed to work. The wall treatment, furniture, lighting, artwork and floor tiles seemed to balance each other.
In all, it was a most amazing experience.
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| Business card for the Academy |
Ben said that had he visited himself, as a local he would not been able to see as much as we did, and if it had just been me, the language barrier would have been insurmountable. So with his translation, we were able to exchange and share an incredible amount of information in a very short period of time.
It’s occasions like this which make travelling such a rewarding experience.
