Maison & Objet has chosen six up-and-coming designers from China’s fast-developing design scene as the winners of the 2019 Rising Talent Awards. Frank Chou, Chen Furong, Mario Tsai, Hongjie Yang, Ximi Li and Bentu are the six chosen winners for the 2019 Rising Talent Awards.
Exemplifying talent, emotional depth and creativity, these Chinese designers bring innovation and energy to their work that is a testament to the country’s rapid design-led growth.
The winners were chosen by a jury of six: Liu Xu, Xing Tong-He, Qu Guangci, Tom Dixon, Luca Nichetto, and Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu.
Some of the winners prefer a China-centric approach while others have absorbed multicultural influences by studying, working and living abroad. But all are committed to forming a new Chinese language of design.
“With the rapid growth of the Chinese economy and the need for a cultural expression of its own, we see a large number of emerging designers that have started to create their own voice that deals with issue of heritage and identity,” said Neri.
“What is most interesting is the Chinese designer’s search for identity, to not just be a look-like of Western design but how to fold in the centuries-old rich Chinese craftsmanship heritage and tradition," Nichetto said. "There is much proof they are going in the right direction. I am very curious to see how this will evolve.”
