Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA)
An exhibition kicked off Monday in Taipei to showcase the lives and achievements of the first Tang Prize laureates and designs that were submitted in the prize's medal and diploma design contest.
"Visitors will be able to learn about the career development, ideas and contributions of the laureates at the exhibition," which will showcase their books, background information and interview clips, Tang Prize Foundation CEO Chern Jenn-chuan said Monday.
The exhibition of the designs that entered the final round in the Tang Prize's design competition will include the winning medal design by renowned Japanese industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa.
In May, Fukasawa beat nine other finalists from around the world to take the US$500,000 top prize in the International Invitational Tang Prize Medal Design Competition, with a design in the shape of overlapping circles.
Chern said Taiwan's Central Mint had to overcome many challenges when manufacturing the winning 6.6-centimeter-diameter medals, which are made of pure gold.
They had to operate in a vacuum environment to prevent air from entering the casting and find a way to laser engrave the wording evenly onto the slanted surface of the medal, all the while controlling its weight at 214 grams, Chern said.
Meanwhile, also on display are the 15 sets of diplomas designed by the finalists of the diploma competition, including the winning submission by Taiwanese designer Huang Wei-han, who used silk and Chinese embroidery as primary materials for the four diplomas for the Tang Prize categories.
The "Glory of the Tang Prize: Laureate and Design Exhibition" will run until Sept. 28 at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
The exhibition is the first of several events that will be held in September to celebrate the Tang Prize, an international academic award established by Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin that is aimed at supplementing the Nobel Prize.
Five individuals who have made major contributions in the fields of sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law, were announced winners of the first Tang Prizes in June .
Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, won the prize in sustainable development; James P. Allison of the United States and Tasuku Honjo of Japan shared the prize in biopharmaceutical science; Chinese American historian Yu Ying-shih won the prize in sinology; and Albie Sachs, a former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, was named the winner of the prize in rule of law.
The laureates are scheduled to attend the award ceremony in Taipei on Sept. 18 and give lectures across Taiwan during Tang Prize Week from Sept. 15 to 21.
