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Celebrity photographer Pang Xiaowei at the
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Precision watchmaking at A. Lange & Söhne and the
company’s Saxon homeland are in the focus of an exhibition by celebrity
photographer Pang Xiaowei at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) in Beijing.
Featuring impressive black-and-white pictures, the photo project zooms in on
artisanship as nurtured by Lange down to the smallest detail, in the context of
a historically and culturally significant region.
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Watchmaking at A. Lange & Söhne |
In the summer of 2015, Pang Xiaowei spent an entire month in
Saxony. His journey included stopovers at A. Lange & Söhne in the Ore
Mountains, in cities such as Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz as well as in Saxon
Switzerland. With his camera, the Chinese lensman captured unique natural and
cultural landscape scenes with their landmark buildings. He repeatedly
encountered talented artisans and interesting individuals, spontaneously
engaging them in discussions before taking their pictures.
The spotlight of the exhibition spanning 150 photographs is on
traditional craftsmanship, for which Saxony is famous the world over. It is
open to the public at the NAMOC from 24 April to 3 May 2016. For Pang, it
epitomizes German culture. He found his themes mainly in the watchmaking
ateliers at A. Lange & Söhne, but also in the workshops of instrument
makers and flower painters, a Dresden stollen bakery and a sculptor’s studio.
“I admire the spiritual attitude of German artisans,” Pang
said. “They strive for perfection for the sake of the outcome.” Artisanal talent
is rooted in the German state’s centuries-old tradition and in the innate quest
for immaculacy. “We feel very honored to be part of this unique project,” said
Lange CEO Wilhelm Schmid. “His work and ours have much in common. Like a good
photograph, a highly evolved mechanical watch is both a unique oeuvre and an
artisanal masterpiece.”
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The exhibition includes more than 150 photographs. |
For A. Lange & Söhne, the venue of the exhibition is
especially significant as well. In 2008, the Saxon watch brand had already
supported two major show projects in the NAMOC. The intention was to present
German art from new perspectives and to promote the cultural dialogue between
China and Germany. The first was a retrospective with works by Gerhard Richter,
the famous German contemporary artist. It was followed by the Living Landscape
exhibition, a pictorial journey through several epochs of German landscape
painting. The exhibitions were realized as a cooperative venture with the
Dresden State Art Collections that Lange has meanwhile been sponsoring for 10 years.
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