Traditional Crafts: Dyeing, Weaving And Embroidery In The Mountains Revived From College Class

Traditional technology and modern design produce wonderful "chemical reaction"

Recovery of dyeing, weaving and embroidery in the mountains from the university classroom

This is a long skirt of the "phantom of Miao" series. The fabric is a combination of Pleated Chiffon fabric and cotton hemp fabric. The patterns are crab flower and bird totem in Miao embroidery patterns, plus abstract geometric patterns with Miao culture implication. It is embroidered on the long skirt by means of seed punching and cloth folding embroidery.

The designer of the "phantom of Miao" is Li Shiya, a girl born in the 1990s. She comes from Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, where 35 ethnic groups live. Growing up in such a multi-ethnic environment, Li Shiya has been interested in national culture since childhood. She is now the founder of a design studio, mainly engaged in ethnic embroidery, batik cultural elements redesign.

In July this year, Li Shiya came to Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, more than 2000 kilometers away. She became a student of the program of intangible cultural heritage research and training of the Ministry of culture and tourism of Jiangnan University to participate in the training of "clothing technology production and design". When the dyeing, weaving and embroidery skills of ethnic minorities meet the university class, the wonderful "chemical reaction" occurs.

　　 Young inheritors have found that clothing can still play like this

The story can be traced back to five years ago. In 2016, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of culture (now the Ministry of culture and Tourism) issued the training plan for inheritors of China's intangible cultural heritage (2016-2020), selected 50-60 universities and 20-30 design and creative enterprises, and completed the training task of 20000 people. At that time, Ma Shengde, an inspector of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Ministry of culture, said that the research and training plan would be based on the concept of "living inheritance", "walking into life" and "people-oriented".

Zhang Yi, Professor of Design School of Jiangnan University, has been engaged in the research of fashion textile design and traditional textile design culture for many years. In his opinion, for ethnic minorities, dyeing, weaving and embroidery is one of the best grasp. As a member of the research and training program expert group, Li Shiya is one of his "favorite students".

Through systematic study in Jiangnan University, Li Shiya learned about the technological process and operation methods of various clothing, as well as the performance and application of different cultures in fashion design. "I feel that fashion production is rigorous and flexible. At the same time, I also lament that fashion design can still be played in this way. This has broken my understanding of fashion design and inspired me a lot from it."

Li Shiya said: "what impressed me most from my study in Jiangnan University is that, as a designer, before designing a good work, he should first cultivate his own aesthetics, have the eyes to discover beauty, have the ability to create beauty, and deeply realize that beauty comes from life and is higher than life."

Zhang Yi said frankly that the ethnic minority students who come to participate in the research and training program have different levels of education. Many students over 40 years old fail to complete the compulsory education stage; But it is gratifying that most of the students under the age of 40 have junior high school or high school education experience, and many of them have college degree or above. Li Shiya graduated from an undergraduate college.

"The level of basic education reflects the students' ability to receive continuing education," Zhang said.

According to him, for older students, the school aims to integrate their products into contemporary life in terms of design, function and so on by expanding their horizons and enhancing the courses of study and cultivation; For young students under 40 years old, they can improve their understanding and application of modern traditional process design methods and concepts through professional courses.

For example, for the young inheritors in Western Hunan and Guizhou, the research and training program, guided by "strengthening the foundation, broadening the horizons, and increasing education and education", provides courses such as clothing design, clothing prototype cutting technology, and clothing three-dimensional cutting technology, and encourages inheritors to combine traditional crafts with modern design to design and produce new products for contemporary life.

pass Only with the development of the times can we meet the needs of the times

　　 "Dyeing, weaving and embroidery are the traditional life skills of ethnic minorities. In the past, they were almost the lifestyle of their families. With the advancement of China's modernization process, ethnic areas have also entered a period of rapid development. However, the problem is that development brings about changes in lifestyle, which makes the dyeing, weaving and embroidery skills of ethnic minorities gradually lose the necessity before industrialization, and are faced with the problem of inheritance and development." Zhang Yi said that traditional dyeing, weaving and embroidery techniques must be innovated to keep up with the times.

Li Shiya thinks that the cultural connotation and cultural symbol of national embroidery can not be changed, because this is the gene inherited from national embroidery. "Every embroidery pattern has its origin or legend, and contains national culture." Li Shiya introduced that in the "phantom of Miao", the crab flower, bird totem and abstract geometric patterns of the Miao people symbolize the Miao people's worship of nature and reproduction, echoing with the carrier of women's long skirt.

But at the same time, Li Shiya changed the traditional color matching of "the phantom of Miao", and boldly tried the contrast color of this season's fashion -- red and black contrast color; The embroidery pattern is refined, which is simple and highlights the main body; And explore the possibility of combining embroidery with more materials. In the later "parent-child series" design, she used batik, plant color overprint method, so that the yellow and indigo blue of Mimosa flower collided and fused.

Zhang Yi said that from the perspective of intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance, ethnic minority dyeing, weaving and embroidery should maintain their traditional skills, but it is not the so-called "original flavor". "In fact, there is no original flavor. Tradition has always been developing with the times. The dyeing, weaving and embroidery of 50 years ago is different from that of 100 years ago. Today, we should encourage them to adopt new designs, new techniques and new materials with modern characteristics to innovate and develop traditional dyeing, weaving and embroidery techniques, so as to meet the needs of the times and meet the aesthetic needs of the public."

In August this year, the general office of the CPC Central Committee and the general office of the State Council issued the opinions on Further Strengthening the protection of intangible cultural heritage. It said, "we will continue to implement the plan for the revitalization of traditional Chinese crafts, strengthen the protection and inheritance of excellent traditional handicrafts of all ethnic groups, and promote the extensive application of traditional arts, traditional techniques, Chinese medicine processing and other traditional crafts in modern life."

Li Shiya's series of "phantom of Miao" won the second prize in the exhibition held by Guizhou arts and Crafts Association, and was favored by a Miao female singer; Later, the "parent-child series" products are closer to life, and their practicability is further improved, and they are accepted and liked by more consumers.

Zhang Yi said that dyeing, weaving and embroidery were the necessities of life before industrialization, and were also the traditional craft projects most easily integrated into contemporary life. "Therefore, we should encourage ethnic minorities to use their own unique skills to produce traditional craft products and cultural creative products that meet the requirements of the times and meet the needs of contemporary consumers.".

At present, clothing, bags and daily necessities designed and produced by traditional dyeing, weaving and embroidery techniques are the most popular cultural tourism products in the market. "Before the design and production of these products, we need to conduct corresponding market research to understand consumers' preferences for dyeing, weaving and embroidery products, budget and other needs," said Zhang Yi. For example, a research report shows that the most popular products in the cultural tourism market are products priced below 60 yuan, accounting for more than 80% of the total consumption. Therefore, only when intangible cultural heritage inheritors achieve the balance between product design and pricing, can they better expand the market and expand consumer groups.

　　 The research and training program is just the beginning

What makes Zhang Yi happy is that these inheritors of intangible cultural heritage who entered the University from Dashan have successfully "graduated" and returned to Dashan. The ancient intangible cultural heritage "revives" in the place where they were born and moves back to contemporary life. Good news often reaches Zhang Yi's ears.

Yuan Rong, a Guizhou student, opened a batik workshop in Fenghuang ancient town, adding more batik clothes with novel design and fashionable aesthetics, and achieved good sales results; Teng Jingrong, a student from western Hunan Province, founded his own studio. Miao cross stitch works have won many awards in China, and I have become the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage at the county level; Wang Jinping, a student in Xiangxi, has expanded his own ethnic clothing enterprises and become a designated enterprise for designing and producing ethnic students' clothing in Xiangxi Prefecture

Jiangnan University has been carrying out the "three two one" training mode, which divides the students' learning time into three stages: the first stage is three weeks, in which students are required to study courses with strong foundation and broaden their horizons; In the second stage, two months later, he went back to his hometown to create his works; In the third stage, one week, I will go back to school for the exhibition of graduation works and the study and Discussion on quality improvement.

"The learning cycle of each research and training program takes three to four months, during which teachers and graduate students will be organized to return visit and guide the inheritors," said Zhang Yi, "It can be said that as long as they become our students, the teachers and students of Jiangnan University will keep in touch with them all the time. Not only is it limited to the training process, after the training, the students will often communicate with the teachers, and even graduate students and tutors often go to the students' place to conduct field research in the process of research."

The research and training program is just the beginning. Zhang Yi revealed that the "2.0 version" of the research and training program of Jiangnan University, which is currently under way, takes advantage of the school's advantages in the field of domestic design, and integrates the traditional arts and crafts culture of ethnic minorities into the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In the past two years, teachers and students of Jiangnan University have designed and created more than 200 pieces (sets) of non legacy cultural and creative product designs for students in Guizhou and Hainan, and donated the right of use to the local inheritors of dyeing, weaving and embroidery.

(source: China Youth Daily)