Cross- Continental Craftsmanship
The exhibition “Wonder Lab” was unveiled at the National Museum of China, presenting masterpieces s from French and Chinese craftsmen.
AChinese book on craftsmanship dating back 2,500 years recorded the detailed contents of 30 crafts in six categories including carpentry, dyeing, polishing, metalworking, ceramics and leather making, and defined “craftsman” as “inheritor of the things that saints created.”
Recently, the exhibition “Wonder Lab,” themed “the beauty of Chinese and French craftsmanship,” was unveiled at the National Museum of China, presenting masterpieces from 15 top French handicraft masters and 11 prestigious Chinese craftsmen and cultural heritage inheritors. The 180 exhibits include ceramics, straw weaving, leather and feathers, shadow play, folding fans, folding umbrellas and woodblock watermarks, among other materials and types.
Spirit of Craftsmanship
“The rapid development of science and technology and the wide application of modern machines free mankind’s hands and extend our wisdom,” proclaims Wang Chunfa, director of the National Museum of China. “Technology also helps highlight how charming handicraft works with distinct features and national attachment are.” He considers the exhibition a response
to public aspirations for exquisite handicrafts and a profound demonstration of the “spirit of craftsmanship.”
This exhibition embraces the concept of “craftsmanship” by displaying traditional French and Chinese handicrafts by contemporary masters. Some invited artists are inheritors of family techniques and some learned from great masters. But they all enjoy decades of experience and deploy advanced skills, standing out through bold creation and modern aesthetics based on traditional genes.
The exhibition includes five sections and juxtaposes similar works from both countries, providing a space for dialogue between them. Employing various materials, master artists broke the hedges between artworks and functional
objects, creating unlimited possibilities in new fields. Additionally, they set instructive dialogues between elements in nature: water and rain, air and wind, fire and sun, earth and soil, which gave birth to a world full of charm and imagination. Meanwhile, artists reviewed ancient techniques like carving and printing and injected new life into them, providing the audience with a fresh artistic experience.
“Regardless of nationality, as artists, we are responsible for passing down traditional cultures by sharing them,” says Gan Erke, inheritor of Huizhou lacquerware, one of China’s national intangible cultural heritage items. “I hope that this exhibition helps people focus on the passion and universal emotion shared by all people, which is conveyed by the exhibits. I also hope the whole of society pays more attention to craftsmen— an ‘endangered species.’”
Sino-french Cultural Communication
The year 2019 marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-french diplomatic relations. At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Jean-maurice Ripert, French ambassador to China, opined that without cultural communication, there would be no cultural diversity in the world and without cultural diversity, there would be no freedom for creation. So, cultural exchange between the two countries plays an important role in promoting world cultural communication.
In 1906, French missionaries from the Daughters of Charity arrived in Haimen City (now Taizhou), bringing Western chasing and drawn thread work, referred to as “Catholic Church embroidery” to locals. “Catholic Church embroidery blended with local skills and evolved into the Taizhou genre
of embroidery with strong local features,” says Lin Xia, a third- generation inheritor of Taizhou embroidery. “This was one of the earliest fruits of Sino-french communication in handicrafts. Usually, embroidery adds threads to cloth, but the Taizhou style both cuts and adds items to cloth. I hope to use modern artistic language and modern techniques to present traditional crafts and breathe fresh air into them.”
Lina Gohtmeh, French designer of the exhibition, revealed that the Forbidden City was an inspiration for her design. “The color of the wall in the first hall is the same red as the walls in the Forbidden City,” she notes. “I hope the audience can enjoy different experiences and get surprises every time after they pass a gate, just like when they travel around the Forbidden City.”
Some French artists involved in this exhibition have connections to China, which have enabled them to foster deep emotions about the nation. Some even leverage Chinese elements as their main creative inspiration.
Conferred “Master of Art” of France in 2006, Pietro Seminelli is a cabinet maker and interior designer. He happened upon the traditional clothing of China’s Miao ethnic group at an exhibition in France and was amazed by its pleating techniques. He eventually applied the pleating into haute couture and interior design. “I feel a kind of ‘destined connection’ with Miao clothes,” says Seminelli. “I fell in love with them at first sight. I long to visit Guizhou to see with my own eyes how Miao women make those fantastic costumes. Here, I brought some of my works that salute Miao women.”
French “Master of Art” Sylvain Le Guen and his Chinese counterpart Wang Jian both build folding fans. Guen made his first fan when
he was 10 years old and became passionate about the history and symbolism of fans. Wang became an apprentice of literati fan-making in Suzhou at the age of 16. “Guen employs a wide variety of designs and materials, giving his fans a great visual impact and making them eye- catching,” says Wang.
“Wang’s works are no doubt the finest fans in the world,” declares Guen. “The techniques he inherited enjoy a time-honored history and remain very exquisite. His work has been a tremendous inspiration to me.”