October 23, 2026, 2pm
The 7th Lih Pao Sculpture Biennial Awards was held at the National Concert Hall on October 23. Secretary-General to the President, Pan Meng-An, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jia-Long, Vice President of the Legislative Yuan, Jiang Qi-Chen, Vice President of the Control Yuan, Li Hong-Jun, Representative of the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office, Marco Lombardi, Representative of the Austrian Office Taipei, Christian Helbig, and other guests participated in the ceremony on site. According to the Secretary-General to the President, Pan Meng-An, “the Lih Pao Group has not only been committed to the renovation of buildings but also actively invested in cultural and art creations, starting from the renovation of cities. Through such efforts, it not only renewed culture and art in Taiwan, but also allowed Taiwan to connect to the world, becoming a major force for the culture in Taiwan to step onto the world stage.” During the speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jia-Long, he specially thanked the Lih Pao Group for proactively promoting cultural diplomacy, and thanked the Lih Pao Group for its vision and contributions to allow the culture and art of Taiwan to be seen by the world. He also recognized the corporate strength of Lih Pao to become a material bridge to international art exchanges. According to the Representative of the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Promotion Office, Marco Lombardi, from the co-organizing country of the sessions, “culture is a bridge that connects different histories and cultures. The long-term efforts of the Lih Pao Sculpture Biennial Awards over the years have built a favorable reputation worldwide. This time, the awards attracted the participation of multiple Italian artists, showing the depth and width of cultural exchanges.”
A total of 195 works from 39 countries participated in the submission-calling for the 7th Lih Pao Sculpture Biennial Awards. Japanese Artist Hongo Yoshiya won the Gold Award with the Work “The Void – ZACHO”! The jury granted high recognition for the use of aluminum plates by Hongo Yoshiya to build the space to serve as the exhibition in reality, so as to seek the appearance of existence via sculpting. Hou Xiao-Fei, an artist from Mainland China, won the Silver Award of the session with his work “A Brief History of Humankind,” Japanese artist Shikata Kenichi won the Bronze Award with the work “Dancing Rays – Sequence of Events.” The work “Xing Jian”, by the Taiwanese artist Chen Chun-Tai, won the Jury Prize.
Jason deCaires Taylor, a renowned British modern sculptor, was the chairperson of the jury for the current session of the Lih Pao Sculpture Biennial Awards, and the jury included Benedetto Camerana (a renowned architecture from Italy), Takamichi Ito (an honorary professor from the Tokyo University of the Arts), and Lai Chi-Man and Han Hsu-Tung, Taiwanese sculpture masters.
According to Pao Tien Wu, the CEO of the Lih Pao Group, “the purpose of the Lih Pao Sculpture Biennial Awards is to encourage artists to exhibit their creativity and unique visions, and build bridges between different cultures, to show the integration of diverse cultures. CEO Wu also announced at the site that the collaborating country for the 8th Lih Pao Sculpture Biennial Awards is Austria. According to Christian Helbig, as the representative of the organizing country from the Austrian Office Taipei for the next sessions, we are honored to be the organizer for the next session, and we hope that artists can create more works to allow the artistic culture to become the sunlight and water in our lives on a daily basis.” Lih Pao Cultural Arts Foundation adopted “developing in Taiwan, connecting to the world stage, and having achievements in 20 years” as the mission to give back to society and actively encourage emerging artists in Taiwan.The goal is connecting to the world stage with sculptures, allowing the world to see Taiwan, and leaving an optimist mark in history through artistic creations.
