In 2021, Ng Tze Yong left his job as CEO of a charity to join his family business as its 6th-generation apprentice artisan, picking up an ancient craft from his 94-year-old grandmother and 73-year-old father.

 

Since 1840, his family has been hand-crafting wooden statues of Daoist and Buddhist deities using a traditional technique dating back to the early Qing Dynasty and which, in China, is listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

 

The challenge: Keep the shop going for another 100 years.

 

In this personal sharing and Q&A, Tze Yong will give a glimpse into the secrets of the ancient craft, which revolves around a splendidly-inclusive cast of deities comprising fearsome warlords, fair maidens, genial seniors, rebellious teenagers, drunken monks, serpents, tigers, buffaloes, and parrots.

 

He will describe the iconography used to differentiate the deities within the vast Daoist pantheon, via identifiers such as headwear, robes, armour, weapons, accessories, animal companions, postures, gestures, eye brows, skin tones, beards, and even sideburns.

 

He will share about the family's innovation efforts, kick-started as a Masters project at New York's Parsons School of Design, one of the world’s best design schools.

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It was a journey involving a Monkey God redesign competition, turning his grandma into a star on Airbnb, experimenting with technology used in medical aesthetics, and the set-up of an academy to help kids reconnect with ancient legends and timeless values.

 

But it was also a journey back in time, of looking inwards as much as outwards, in the search to uncover this little shop’s place in the world, mortal and divine.

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Please note:

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* The sharing will comprise a 40-min presentation via slides and a 20-min Q&A.

* Photos of the workshop may be taken and used for publicity purposes.

* Content subject to minor changes.

* Conducted in English

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This talk was previously held at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Qixi cultural festival (supported by the Singapore Tourism Board), Art Outreach gallery at Gillman Barracks, and OCBC Bank.