Jacky Tsai × Martell — A Year of Celebration

15th Nov 2022

In 2022, Jacky Tsai collaborated with Maison Martell on two festive limited editions, bringing his East–West visual language to Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Across packaging and moving image, the house’s emblematic swift became a thread connecting new beginnings, journeys and reunion.

Chinese New Year — The Spirit of the Tiger

At the centre of the composition, a vintage bottle of Martell cognac forms the body of the swift, surrounded by an intricate assemblage of grapes, apples, pears, oak barrels and vine leaves — key elements of cognac craftsmanship. Ships extend into the wings, symbolising the historic journey of Martell from Cognac to the rest of the world.

Beneath the swift, a leaping tiger emerges in a bold and dynamic stride, marking the arrival of the Year of the Tiger and embodying courage, momentum and the seizing of new opportunities.

The work creates a visual dialogue between French cognac heritage and contemporary Chinese iconography, transforming traditional brand symbols into a narrative of cultural exchange, movement and celebration.

To further activate the artwork, a digital interactive experience was developed, allowing audiences to step into the composition and encounter the swift in motion — extending the work beyond the physical object into an immersive visual space.

“For me, this collaboration was about translating the spirit of Martell — its history of travel, freedom and audacity — into a contemporary visual language that connects cultures and generations.”

Mid-Autumn — The Swift Returns Home

For Mid-Autumn, Tsai returned to the swift with a different story: homecoming beneath a full moon. The 2022 Martell Noblige limited edition draws on the image of swifts returning to their nest, connecting the festival’s spirit of reunion with the artist’s colourful visual world.

Wine glasses, oak barrels and vine leaves are woven into a landscape of flowing water, mountains and pavilions. Traditional Chinese landscape imagery meets the energy of pop art, turning the bottle and gift box into a scene of gathering and celebration.

Tsai invited animation studio Future Power Station to bring the Mid-Autumn artwork to life. The film extends the illustrated landscape into motion, completing a collaboration that travelled from the momentum of the New Year to the warmth of reunion.

Mid-Autumn animation by Future Power Station. Artwork by Jacky Tsai for Maison Martell.

The Martell Noblige bottle also unlocked an augmented-reality experience. Through a smartphone camera, the campaign brought animated elements of Tsai’s artwork into the viewer’s surroundings, extending the illustrated bottle into an interactive digital landscape.