Nanjing University of the Arts

The studio merged the two worlds and cultures with the intention of planting the ideas and the knowledge he brought from the West in China and to adapt them. As co-head of the Jewellery and Silversmithing Department at NUA, Kezhen Wang transmits his experience and thoughts to his students. While teaching and transforming the hand skills of western metalsmithing, NUA Metal Studio also pays attention to the inheritance research of traditional metal art. Many times, in the fields and villages from Yunnan to Tibet, Mr. Wang and his students have undertaken field study visits to explore the local folk art and craft ecology. They brought the traditional crafts from different provinces of China back into the studio. They received and recorded the traditions of 5000 years Chinese metalwork when elaborate metal vessels and the first jewellery were produced. Above all, they have the ambition to try to define Chinese contemporary jewellery and metalsmithing as a new rising power on the world stage.

From 2008 to 2016, the Metal Studio was part of the Jewellery subject discipline in NUA. During the period, the knowledge structure of metal art and craft has gradually developed its strengths in the process of teaching and research in the studio. International exchange workshops have regularly taken place and domestic practice and communication have gradually expanded in-depth and breadth. Such events are part of the experimental philosophy of the Metals Studio and the much improved outcomes are the results of that. These researches and experiments made NUA Metal Studio not only paying attention to traditional continuity but also formal innovation, not only pursuing the rigor of engineering technology but also focusing on theoretical research, not only consult Chinese traditional craft culture but also rely on the contemporary craftsmanship.

In the second half of 2016, in order to adapt to the planning and adjustment of the teaching work of the college, NUA Metal Studio began to provide systematic courses to some students who are interested in using metal as a medium for undergraduate graduation. At this time, NUA Metals Studio became a separate department of the design college in NUA.

From the initial subsidiary courses, the department has now developed into an independent major. To a certain extent, Metal Studio in NUA is a microcosm of the development track of contemporary metalsmithing in Chinese academe. The evolution of Metal Studio in NUA just reflects in the past ten years, the domestic process of changing the concept of metalsmithing from traditional to modern. It can also provide evidence of the results of individuals studying contemporary craft overseas and returning with new skills and perspectives to China in the past decade.