This blog explores the way of interesting recreate Chinese traditional embroidery(Xiang embroidery) to a younger generation
by Jiang Chang | Apr.19.2022
Chinese traditional craftsmen are determined to pass down their ‘skills’ to the younger generation without realising the importance of cultivating freedom of expression, creativity and innovation; therein lies its biggest challenge.
British Coucil Creative Economy
Because of my family background, as a Chinese who has been in touch with the traditional Chinese embroidery (Xiang embroidery) industry since childhood, a youth of the world as well, I think that by making traditional Chinese embroidery interesting and integrated into modern life, it helps to improve cultural and crafting sustainability and cultural diversity.
The stakeholders
The stakeholders of this theme are craftsmen of traditional embroidery such as Jiang Zaihong, she can serve as a professional embroidery technical guide in this project.
Gan Sheng who is the Director of Changsha Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, He can help and guide me on the social significance and effectiveness of the project from a government perspective in this project.
Professor Yu Binxia, a research librarian and embroidery committee expert of Hunan Museum, and as a professional embroidery curator, she stands from a more academic and professional perspective to make the content of this project more academic, more formal and more contemporary with exhibition significance.
The organizations are Changsha Xiang Embroidery Research Institute, Changsha Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center，Changsha Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Association, and Hunan Jiang Zaihong Embroidery Art Museum, These institutions and museums stated that they can provide professional embroidery personnel and other inheritors of intangible cultural heritage， as well as publicity and exhibitions on their platforms for this project.
Interviews
When I communication with them about my topic, they look forward to it and agree with it and give some suggestion about the direction of this topic. Jiang Zaihong said that as a representative inheritor of Hunan embroidery of national intangible culture, she is desire to see new ideas, new designs, new art forms and new commercial market of Hunan embroidery presented in traditional embroidery. Jiang Zaihong hopes to see more people give Hunan embroidery fresh vitality without losing the traditional embroidery craftsmanship. Focus on contemporary art forms to reinvigorate traditional culture, revitalize the embroidery market, and ultimately achieve the purpose of inheritance.
Gan Sheng, mentioned that making traditional culture interesting is not only on the surface, but also needs to be integrated into the life of modern people, adding uses to these traditional embroidery crafts while keeping it interesting, such as in furniture, studyware etc, so that they can use it and attractive to it.
In addition, I also discussed the future direction of China’s intangible cultural heritage with Professor Yu Binxia, She said that since I am the curator of Hunan Jiangzaihong Embroidery Museum, I can do Some projects of contemporary art practice based on craftsmanship, with cross-cultural approach, as she said that there is rarely exhibition about embroidery handicrafts with contomporary art, she hopes I can try it, through expressing new values to audiences about intangible cultural heritage dialogue and communication, instead of emphasizing academicity like traditional museums and instilling ideas into the audience
Intervention
After got information from preliminary , I decided to do some changes from photography and artefacts on this theory, about the performance of integrating into contemporary art forms and experiments in changing the original materials.
It is worth affirming that by changing the original material, I got a different feeling for embroidery, which also affirmed my determination to continue to change. However,When I read the papers and articles of recreating and reinventing traditional art, I especially agree one opinion of Dr. Maria Huhmarniemi, an artist and a teacher in the University of Lapland, that is learning traditional skills and applying them in contemporary art comprise an influential method when striving for cultural sustainability, I felt that the changes of xiang embroidery I made in the past were still need to be improved (see the below picture). From the pictures, it can be seen that it is still in a level of appearence, I inneed to really touch embroidery, understand the process of embroidery, so as to change and innovate it.
learning traditional skills and applying them in contemporary art comprise an influential method when striving for cultural sustainability.
Dr. Maria Huhmarniem
Conclusions
I intend to use art-based action research as a strategy, and in my research on the sustainability of the craft, I need to learn traditional embroidery craft techniques and methods, the use of materials and tools. As a boy who has never touched embroidery, it was a challenge for me because I needed to overcome my male chauvinism and learn embroidery skills quickly. But I believe that if I overcome the gender stereotypes of traditional embroidery craftsmanship, not only can I break the gender gap in traditional culture, but I can also participate in interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogues between communities and other groups as a young craftsman, a dialogue formed through craftsmanship.
# AC Knowledge # AC process #AC Communication #AC realisation
Bibliography
News.cgtn.com. 2022. China attempts to save traditional art of Su Embroidery. [online] Available at: <https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d774d3463444d78457a6333566d54/index.html> [Accessed 19 April 2022].
Holmes, C., n.d. Embroidering the everyday. 1st ed. UK: BT Batsford Ltd, p.14.
Huhmarniemi, M., 2018. Crafting Sustainability: Handcraft in Contemporary Art and Cultural Sustainability in the Finnish Lapland. [online] Lacris.ulapland.fi. Available at: <https://lacris.ulapland.fi/ws/files/6111304/sustainability_10_01907.pdf> [Accessed 17 April 2022].
Forbes. 2020. Japanese Visionary Women BrandVoice: Innovations Incorporating Traditional Japanese Crafts Into Modern Life. [online] Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/japanesevisionarywomen/2020/11/18/innovations-incorporating-traditional-japanese-crafts-into-modern-life/?sh=22692c5c1d13> [Accessed 16 April 2022].
East.co.uk. 2020. Reinventing Traditional Craft. [online] Available at: <https://www.east.co.uk/blogs/journal/reinventing-traditional-craft> [Accessed 18 April 2022].
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