Tiger

Designer-mentee: Niko Leung
Collective Master-mentors: Raman Hui, Chi Wing Lo
Lead Curator: Marisa Yiu

L 15 x W 8 x H 34 cm
Stoneware (Hong Kong Soil) and Paper

Tiger has always been an important emblem for courage, power and protection in the Asian culture. As the designer’s zodiac sign is Tiger, she believes that this zodiac animal has brought her determination and persistence.

In China, tigers are widely depicted in prints as talisman people put up on the wall, or as a pair of door knockers to ward off unwanted encounters in dwellings. Fascinating illustrations of tiger can be found in Chinese folk art, court goods and military objects. In Asia, tiger is a mythical guard, but not always portrayed as a stern warrior, it is also a whimsical cat people fantasize a bond with.

The designer was inspired by the novel relationship our ancestors had with Tiger, it is always about anticipation and a kind of hope.

Tibetan tiger rug has become a modern design object we use at home to uplift an interior, but a tiger rug was originally used by the Yogis as a mat for meditation, the tiger skin motif is believed to keep away distractions from insects and snakes, it is an object that serves a journey, to a special place you spend time with.

“Tiger Palette” is an imagery expedition that takes us to some cultural narratives and ancient dreams we had with Tiger, docked by two ceramic pillars, like the traditional Chinese gateway structure paifang, made of soil recycled from local construction site in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Soil). Between them are 200 continuous folds of vibrant colors in gradation, punctuated with found images of selected framings you travel through with your fingers, unfolding pages as though going through a miniature archive, library and exhibit.

Yi Hu by Raman Hui (2010)

“Yi Hu” is Raman Hui’s playful conceptualisation of the binaries of a tiger. Raman employs the idea of positive and negative space to shape “Yi Hu”’s form and mass. “Yi Hu” is a successful collaboration with the world-class pewter brand Royal Selangor, which has over 120 years of history.