ThehistoricQianmenAvenueissettobecomeashowcaseforChina’sintangibleculturalheritageHYERINHWANGONBeijing’sQianmenAvenue,hiddenbetweentwoalleywaysafewstepsfromTiananmenSquareisthesmallworkshopofYaoHuifen.Fromtheoutside,youwouldhaveahardtimebelievingthatthisnewandmodern-lookingshopcontainsaworldofmillennialtreasures.
YaoisamasterofthetraditionalcraftsmanshipofSuzhouembroidery,whichislistedasanintangibleculturalheritageofChina.OriginallyfromSuzhouCityineastChina’sJiangsuProvince,thisartform-famousforitsrefineddesignsandelegantcolors-wasstrugglingtofinditsrelevanceinmodernsociety.Butsinceherpersonalworkshopopenedayearago,YaoisincreasinglyoptimisticaboutthefutureofSuzhouembroidery.
Asidefromanincreaseinsalesandaproportionateraiseinherincome,themostimportantchangetoYao,49,isthathercraftnowbenefitsfromanimportantplatformintheveryheartofthecapital.
“MoreandmoreyounguniversitystudentswanttolearnSuzhouembroidery;theyvisitmyworkshoptolearnitshistoryandthenaskustoteachthemthetechniques.Thereisademandforlong-termembroiderytrainingcourses,andweareworkingtowardthat,”shetoldChinAfrica.
Passingontoayoungergenerationherpassionforthebeauty,theeleganceandtherefinementoftheancientartofSuzhouembroideryhasbecomethelifemissionofthiscraftmaster.
Makingtheintangibletangible
Yao’sSuzhouembroideryworkshopistheresultofasuccessfulpartnershipbetweenBeijingGovernmentandYongxinHuayunCultureIndustryGroup,whichisaimedatturningBeijing’shistoricQianmenAvenueintoadistrictdedicatedtothedisseminationandsafeguardingofChina’sintangibleculturalheritage.
Yao’sboothworkshopisthefirstof16craftworkshopsplannedtoopeninthecomingmonths.Theseworkshopsformaseparatepartofalargernetworkcovering200,000squaremetersacrosstheQianmenarea,withtheIntangibleCulturalHeritageExperienceCenter,whichopeneditsdoorstothepublicinDecember2016,atitscore.
Oncethe$3.8-billionprojectiscompleted,1,000specificartformsfrom12majorkindsofcraftsmanshipwillbeavailabletothepublic,showcasingtheexcellentskillsofmorethan1,000Chinesemastersfromalloverthecountry.
ThisprojectisfullyinlinewiththeConventionfortheSafeguardingoftheIntangibleCulturalHeritage,adoptedin2003byUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganization(UNESCO),whichaimstoprotectthe“practices,representations,expressions,knowledgeandknow-howthatcommunitiesrecognizeaspartoftheirculturalheritage.”
Keepingcraftalive
Onthetwofloorsofthe2,000-square-meterIntangibleCulturalHeritageExperienceCenter,morethan200formsofcraftsmanshiparealreadyshowcased,rangingfrompotterytocalligraphy,aswellasembroidery,sculpture,painting,copperandmetalhandicrafts.Eachartformhasitsowndedicatedarea,wherevisitorscanunderstand,examineandpurchaseartworksproducedbythemastersandtheirapprentices.
Farfromlimitingitselftomerelyshowcasingorsellingthecreations,theexperiencecentergoesonestepfurtherandallowsvisitorstophysicallyexperienceChina’srichheritage.Experiencestationshavebeensetupandvisitorsareencouragedtoindulgeintheircreativitytothefullestbycreatingtheirownartworks.
Withthehelpofspeciallytrainedstaff,visitorscantrytheirhandsatpottery,painting,orpaper-cut,amongothers.Withtheircreativeurgessatiated,thebuddingcraftmasterscanpurchasetheirownlittlepieceofartforamodestfee.
“Itisbyphysicallyandemotionallyexperiencingthevariouscraftsthatvisitorscometoreallyappreciatetheartforms,”YeJing,BrandManageratYongxinHuayun,toldChinAfrica.
Mastersandcraftsmenalsovisittheexperiencecenter,wheretheyenjoymeetingvisitorsandsharingtheirpassionfortheirart.Thesecontactsandexchangeswiththemastersputahumanfaceontheintangibleculturalheritage,andoftenleavethestrongestimpressiononvisitorsofallages.
“Lookingattheassiduouseyesandskillfulhandsofthemastersatwork,Iwastouchedbytheirartisticcharmandfeltveryproudofourtraditionalart.Themastersalsointroducedsomeofthecoretechniquesandexplainedtheirculturalsignificance.Allofthismakesmewanttobecreativemyself,”saidWangNing,a20-year-oldstudentfromPekingUniversity.
Inthisspirit,theprojectcomplieswithUNESCO’sbestpracticestosafeguardintangibleculturalheritage,whichrecommendnotto“freeze”theheritage,butrathertomakeit“relevant”and“constantlyrecreated.”
Leveragingnewtechnologies
Inadditiontophysicalexperiences,theprojectalsoseekstofullyleverageinformationtechnologiesinhelpingsafeguardanddisseminateChina’sintangibleculturalheritage.
YongxinHuayunlaunchedtheefeiyiecommercewebsiteasanextensionoftheexperiencecenterandworkshops.Theestablishmentofanonlinestoreandthedigitizationofculturalproductsprovidemasterswithanadditionalchanneltodisseminatetheirart,whileincreasingtheirincome.
Craftsmenreceiveasignificantportionoftheprofitsgeneratedbythesalesofartcreationsonthewebsite,accordingtoYe.
AccordingtoLuoYong,VicePresidentofYongxinHuayun,adatabankiscurrentlyunderconstruction,aimedatgatheringinformationofallelementslistedaspartofChinaandtheworld’sintangibleculturalheritage.
Inthefuture,virtualrealityandaugmentedrealitytechnologieswillalsobeusedtoshowcaseancientproductiontechniquestovisitors.“Byusingnewtechnologies,wecangobackinhistoryandgobeyondthelimitsoftimeandspace,andthismakesculturemorealive,”LuotoldChinAfrica.
ThissystemwillbecloselylinkedwiththenetworkofofflineshopsinQianmen.Intheexperiencecenter,eachofthemasters’creationisalreadyaccompaniedbyaQRcode.Byscanningthecode,visitorscanaccessafullintroductionoftheproductanditscreator,andevenpurchaseitonthespot.Supportingandunderstandingintangibleculturalheritagehasneverbeeneasier.
Avoidingpitfalls
Effortstofullyintegratetraditionalcraftsintomodernsociety,however,arenotwithouttheirpitfalls,whichstakeholdersmuststrivetoidentifyandavoid,accordingtoUNESCO.
Inparticular,somemeasuresaimedatpopularizingand“selling”theintangibleheritagecansometimesleadtodisruptionsandimbalanceswithintheheritage.