Source: Taiwan Straits Network
Discover the treasures of folk craftsmanship and explore the path of effective inheritance
The Xiamen Civic Craft Exhibition ended today, and the topic of how folk crafts can be inherited and innovated has attracted people's attention
According to Xiamen Daily, an exhibition representing the high level of Xiamen folk crafts- "Always Follow the Party" Xiamen Folk Crafts Exhibition will end today at the Xiamen Literary Association Art Exhibition Hall.
The exhibition exhibits more than 100 works of arts and crafts, including the works of well-known folk artists who won the "Chinese Folk Art Mountain Flower Award", as well as the rookies who have just devoted themselves to the cause of folk art, involving shadow carving, lacquer line carving, paper art, fine arts, porcelain, tin carving, wood carving, walnut carving and other categories, which can be described as the "treasure show" of Xiamen folk crafts.
Folk crafts originate from the folk and flourish in the folk, and are an important part of China's excellent traditional culture. Through this exhibition, we can glimpse the rich and colorful crafts of Xiamen citizens, and at the same time, we have also attracted people's attention to how to inherit and innovate folk crafts. To this end, the reporter of this newspaper specially interviewed the organizer of the exhibition, the person in charge of the Civic Writers association (hereinafter referred to as the "Citizens' Literary Association") and some of the participating authors.
Lacquered line carved ornament "Four Square Supreme". (Cai Shuiqing, Zhuang Nanyan)
Huihe shadow sculpture "Hui'an Girl". (Li Yahua)
Peasant lacquer painting "Xiang'an Pat Chest". (Ji Xiaoping)
Xiamen folk crafts
A number of masterpieces have emerged
Xiamen folk crafts have achieved remarkable results, and a large number of famous masters with faith, feelings, responsibility, virtue and art have emerged, and have won 5 "Mountain Flower Awards", the highest awards in Chinese folk art. In particular, during the 2017 BRICS Leaders' Meeting in Xiamen, President Xi Jinping and President Putin jointly visited the exhibition of the intangible cultural heritage of southern Fujian, and Xiamen folk art shined brightly.
The arts and crafts works exhibited in this exhibition are unique and pleasing to the eye, and every tiny detail is a condensation of the artists' painstaking efforts. In addition to the lacquer line carving and Huihe shadow carving that everyone is more familiar with, there are also some niche folk crafts that are also surprising.
Lin Hanbing's fishbone painting "Brilliance" skillfully integrates Xiamen's unique marine elements for artistic expression, he pastes fish bones with different forms on the picture, and after careful collocation, presents a brilliant picture of fish flocking to the sun. Over the years, Lin Hanbing has been rooted in Gulangyu Island, and despite the difficulties of survival, he still insists on creating.
Under Chen Baozhen's hands, the paper was rolled out of a colorful minnan ancient house. "The paper tests not only the flexibility of the craftsman's fingers, but more importantly, the aesthetic insights behind the creation of the work." Chen Baozhen said that deciding to take paper as a profession, it was indeed very difficult to survive at the beginning, and slowly through the development of original content, the creation of works with the characteristics of southern Fujian, the works were recognized by more and more people, and the market was gradually opened.
Lacquerware "Song Painting Full of Lacquer Thread Fruit Plate". (Shen Jinli)
Derivative paper "Minnan Gucuo Swallowtail Ridge". (Chen Baozhen)
Folk craft development
The ultimate way out is in the market
Xiamen has many skillful folk craftsmen who have shown the world a variety of once glorious forms of folk art. However, folk craft culture is declining day by day, and some even have difficulty surviving. To save this tradition and let Xiamen folk crafts pass on from generation to generation, folk artists have such a consensus - the final way out is still in the market.
Cai's lacquer line carving, Xiamen lacquer Baozhai lacquer art, Huihe shadow carving, etc., relying on the enterprise operation, cultural park and other ways, have explored an effective inheritance road. Some endangered art treasures have been successfully saved because of "people of insight" such as the Civic Association of Literature and Culture.
Known as the "Agate Village", Xiamen's Dongpu Village was once a remote poor village. This is not the origin of agate, but it is the largest agate processing place. In the process of field research, the Citizens' Association of Culture and Literature discovered the development dilemma of the village and put forward suggestions for the "industrialization of folk crafts". Subsequently, Dongpu Village recruited hundreds of carvers from all over the country to add creative elements to enhance the artistic and cultural value of agate. Today, almost every family in Dongpu Village is engaged in the agate industry.
In the view of Chen Bin, chairman of the Civic Association of Culture and Culture, in addition to the development of industrialization, folk art also needs to be inherited and promoted. In order to better disseminate and promote these excellent traditional cultures, the Civic Cultural Association has been committed to promoting folk art on campus for 16 years since its establishment, and strives to make cultural activities that benefit the people the norm. Zhen Zhen entered the campus, guqin entered the campus, puppet show entered the campus, opera entered the campus... From the initial one or two children to dozens or even hundreds of people participating, Chen Bin said, "Through the way of 'squatting and incubation', let the children get close to Xiamen's excellent folk art, understand their form and connotation, and help inherit and spread the traditional Minnan culture." ”
"They are all from Xiamen." In recent years, many folk craftsmen have chosen to come to Xiamen for development. Chen Bin said that the Citizens' Cultural Association is very inclusive, and folk craftsmen from all over the world are a family as long as they come to Xiamen. A group of skilled craftsmen in the arts and crafts circles have developed into "enterprise clusters" through the way of "hugging groups", and have also put Xiamen's folk craft industry on the fast track of development.
Let the traditional folk crafts
Re-enter the lives of the people
At present, Chinese folk art is facing the transformation from tradition to modernity. Many local folk craftsmen began to seek cultural innovation and adapt to the aesthetics of modern people. Combined with fashion, launch a brand, make the traditional folk crafts realize the docking of modern industries, guide the national culture to fashion and life, re-enter the lives of the people, and strive to make the traditional folk crafts come alive.
In this regard, Zou Wenbing, director of the Cultural and Creative Industry Research Center of Huaqiao University and deputy secretary general of the Civic Cultural Association, also put forward his own views. "To really protect these folk arts, not only should the government increase support and protection, especially for craftsmen engaged in folk crafts, but more importantly, folk arts can be widely promoted and become a part of people's lives." Zou Wenbing said that learning from the practices of some regions and allowing more folk crafts with local attributes to be displayed in public service spaces is also a way to enhance cultural self-confidence. On the other hand, the folk crafts are developed into a good carrier of home ornaments and souvenirs, which has become a cultural symbol of Xiamen, telling the story of Xiamen through products, so that tourists who come to Xiamen can wake up the memory of Xiamen after returning home.
The reporter also learned that the book "Overview of Xiamen Folk Literature and Art" compiled by the Citizens' Association of Literature and Literature will be published soon, which will make a more systematic and comprehensive summary and display of the literary and artistic undertakings of Xiamen citizens since the founding of New China, in order to let more social forces pay attention to and understand the development process of Xiamen folk literature. (Courtesy of reporters Chen Dong and Xu Shuxin/Courtesy of the Civic Association)