Pushing the medium of ceramics further from its functional orthodoxy are Bùi Công Khánh’s Porcelain Medals of 2018. Recently exhibited at the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT11, 2024), this installation, one of five individually produced sets of 280 moulded, hand painted, and gilded facsimile porcelain army medals, is displayed in a tight mound for Beauty Will Save the World. First shown in Hong Kong by 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Porcelain Medals materialises the scrutiny of war and its consequences. What are the limits of heroism, what does battling for one’s land and sovereignty mean? These are universal and topical themes relevant today as armed conflicts surge on several continents. By producing war medals, without intrinsic value, but often treasured for symbolising sacrifice, as tactile, fragile, and exquisite porcelain objects, Bùi Công Khánh interrogates war from all sides, viewers challenged to weigh its necessity against its toll on life. Porcelain Medals, aesthetically and sensorially enticing while also referencing the bleak outcomes of man-provoked violence, through medium and beauty embody oblique resistance.