China Daily Global Edition (USA)
TRADITION TAKES CENTER STAGE
Items such as blue calico and yak wool shawls were exhibited during Shanghai Design Week as part of efforts to promote China’s intangible culture heritage
“They are the best ambassadors of our cultural heritage, and we are greatly honored to contribute to the showcase of China’s traditional art and crafts on the international stage,” he said.
Zhang Lili, deputy professor with the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts (SAFA) in Shanghai University, was the person who brought the traditional craftsmen together to create The Forest of a Hundred Birds installation. As the director of the Public Art Coordinating Center (PACC) of the academy, Zhang has since 2015 been working to help promote handicrafts recognized as China’s intangible cultural heritage.
“Ms Zhang holds with one hand the inheritors of China’s intangible cultural heritage, and with the other contemporary artists and designers,” said Chen Zhigang, a professor with SAFA, at a forum during the Shanghai Design Week. “She has brought them together and created a large number of outstanding projects.”
“Many of China’s craftsmen live in villages and have no training in art or design,” said Zhang.
“In the past three years, we have provided free training courses on art basics such as colors and graphic design to 16 classes consisting of inheritors of China’s intangible cultural heritage.”
This year, PACC collaborated with theater director Xu Jun to create the musical production The White Snake. The costumes and headdresses were designed to feature traditional Chinese handicrafts such as silk embroidery and jewelry made with fine gold threads.
“When the musical premiered at the Hongqiao Art Center on April 19, we presented an exhibition at the gateway to introduce the fine crafts of intangible cultural heritage so that audiences could experience the beauty of traditional culture before watching the show,” she said.
“All the cultural heritages have gone through centuries to reach this contemporary age, and they need to join in the spirit of today,” she said at the forum. “We can view the heritage as a life form, which has to keep evolving and renewing itself.”
Aside from the installation, PACC also showcased 400 design products at the fair, including shawls, dresses and boots made with yak wool and fine yak cashmere from the Tibetan plateau.
The series was jointly created by Sonam Tamdrin, an entrepreneur from the Aba autonomous prefecture of Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups in Sichuan province, and designers from luxury shoemaker Sheme.
“We have had the culture and craft of weaving in Tibet for 1,700 years,” he said at the forum.
“But we have only started to make yak cashmere products recently. We always try to keep the original colors of the wool and cashmere, and we believe it is important to stay true to Tibetan yak culture. We hope our products can win the recognition and support of urban consumers.”
He Zhifen, an official from Aba, spoke about how the project benefitted those living in the impoverished region.
“We have established associations for embroidery and weaving craftsmen and collaborations between enterprises and workshops. This means that thousands of women from the community can enjoy flexible working hours and make money at home,” she said.