John Ang,  Director of Samyama, was born in Chicago in 1956. Soon after, he returned with his family to Singapore where he later finished his 'A' Levels at Anglo-Chinese School and completed his military service with the Singapore Armed Forces.

 

In 1974, John returned to the States where his various interests led him to study ceramic art production at the University of Marquette, Michigan, Chinese textile history at the Textile Museum, Washington D.C.,  ballet and modern dance at Marygrove College Detroit, Philadelphia Ballet Academy, Philadelphia and American Ballet Theater, New York.

 

Finally John settled to study  Asian Art History at the University of Michigan where he received both his B. A  and M.A. in Asian Art History.  During his time at Michigan he worked as an intern at the Detroit Institute of Arts and also spent one summer studying Chinese language at Beijing University. After graduation, John moved to Tokyo to study Japanese and worked as an art journalist for the Japan Times.

 

In 1987, he moved to Taipei to study classical Chinese language and in 1990, John established Artasia, Fine Asian Antiques and Art Consultancy.  Under John's direction, Artaisa in five years became one of Taipei's leading art galleries.

 

As director of Artasia, John focused mainly on Chinese furniture and travelled extensively in China to do field research. He wrote many articles for different major art magazines, such as “Orientations” and “Arts of Asia”, and became well known for his pioneering effort in the study of the regional styles of Chinese furniture.  He was also invited by many important institutions of various countries to lecture on on Chinese Art and furniture.  These institutions included Sotheby's New York and Hong Kong; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore; Qinghai University, Beijing; National Palace Museum, Taipei; etc..  In 1997 John also wrote and published the book "The Beauty of Huanghuali Furniture".

 

In 2006, John established Yoga Living – a school for yoga and mindful lifestyle. Through Yoga Living,  John taught not only yoga but also healthy eating habits.  He wrote two books in Chinese on yoga and a book on foods and recipes of Southeast Asia.

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In 2011, John renamed his art gallery, Samyama. This gallery specializes in fine Asian antiques and textiles as well as crystals from around the world.

 

Currently, John is focused on two personal projects:  training underprivileged children of Cambodia to become yogateachers, and building a collection of textiles of the Malay world. His dream is for Cambodia to have 2,000 well trained yoga teachers by the year 2036 and to complete his collection and book on Malay textiles.

現任沙雅瑪總監洪光明先生，1956年出生於美國芝加哥，隨後不久就跟著家人重返新加坡，在此完成英國華人學校A Level的學位與陸軍服役。

 

1974年，洪光明會到美國開展多方面的興趣，在密西根Marquette大學的陶藝、華盛頓DC織品博物館的中國織品歷史；在底特律的Marygrove學院、費城芭蕾學院、紐約費城芭蕾劇院等學習芭蕾以及現代舞。

 

洪光明最後專注在亞洲藝術史的領域，同時也在密西根大學完亞洲藝術史的學士還有碩士學位。在求學期間他到底特律藝術中心Detroit Institute of Arts實習，利用一個暑假在北京大學學習中文。畢業之後，John搬到日本學日文，同時為Japan Times的特約記者。

 

1987年，洪光明搬到台北，學習中文經典。在1990年創立亞細亞佳Artasia－古藝術與藝術顧問。在洪光明領導之下，5年內迅速成為台北首屈一指的藝廊。

 

身為亞細亞佳總監，洪光明專注在中國家具，而且大量深入中國做田野調查。同時，他也為知名的藝術雜誌撰寫專文：Arts of Aisa 以及 Orientations。在中國家具區域風格裡領先的研究結果逐漸聲名大噪，演講邀約來自世界各地知名的博物館，題目涉及中國藝術到家具等：紐約蘇富比、香港Minneapolis 藝術中心、新加坡亞洲文明博物館、北京青海大學、台北故宮博物院等。1997年出版著作「黃花梨家具之美」。

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2006年，洪光明創立「瑜伽生活」－瑜珈以及靈性生活的學校，在此除了學習瑜伽，還有健康的飲食習慣。隨後出版兩本中文著作關於瑜珈，以及1本東南亞食譜的健康餐飲。

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2011年，洪光明將藝廊命名為「沙雅瑪生活藝術」，在這個空間裡有亞洲古美術以及織品，還有來自世界各地的水晶。

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​目前，洪光明專注在兩個重要的個人使命：一個是幫助柬埔寨困苦的孩子，成為瑜伽老師；另一個是建立馬來世界的織品收藏。他的夢想是在2036年在柬埔寨訓練2000位合格的瑜伽老師，完成馬來織品的收藏，以及出版書籍。