Elephant News reporter Zhao Yongtao
On February 4, the Beijing Winter Olympics grandly opened, and a touch of red from Sanmenxia, Henan Province, added a festive touch to the Winter Olympics. Following the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Sanmenxia paper-cutting has once again become a licensed paper-cutting commodity for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and behind this glory is inseparable from the persistence and efforts of Li Zhumei of the Yellow River Folk Art Research Institute of Sanmenxia City.
In an interview she turned from a journalist to a protector of the art of paper-cutting
"I found that many extinct folk masters are struggling to survive." In 2000, Li Zhumei, who was a reporter at a magazine, came into contact with Henan folk art by chance in an interview, and while she was amazed by the exquisite folk art, she found that many craftsmen had a hard life, and it was difficult to realize the artworks made, and it was this touch that changed the trajectory of Li Zhumei's life in the next 20 years.
"At that time, Chinese folk art only lived in the folk, and it was difficult to have a way out." With the country's emphasis on traditional culture and folk art, more and more favorable policies have begun to tilt towards these aspects. With her unique sensitivity, Li Zhumei quit her job as a journalist in 2002, organized a group of folk artists, and established the Yellow River Folk Art Research Institute in Sanmenxia City, determined to promote the art of paper-cutting to the whole country and even the world.
2008 Beijing Olympic Games Sanmenxia paper-cutting is a blockbuster
The first time Sanmenxia paper-cut entered the vision of the people of the whole country was at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In order to promote the art of paper-cutting, as early as 2005, before CCTV announced the Olympic Fuwa, Li Zhumei had begun to think about what kind of paper-cut image to use as the mascot of the Olympic Games. As soon as the image of Fuwa was announced, Within a week Li Zhumei led the team to produce Fuwa paper-cuts.
In addition to more than 3,000 paper-cut works as licensed goods, Li Zhumei and her team also made instant paper cuts for the winning Chinese athletes at the competition site. There are more than a dozen people in the paper-cutting team, some people specially capture wonderful moments, some people specially cut, some people specially engraved, some people specially framed, just to send paper-cut works to the hands of champions as soon as possible. "It's tiring, but it's exciting and happy."
The appearance of this Olympic Games not only let more people know the unique charm of Sanmenxia paper-cutting, but also brought tangible rewards to the paper-cutting masters involved in this project. There is a paper-cutting master, in less than a year, income of 50,000 yuan chartered paper-cutting handicraft fee. Li Zhumei revealed pride in her tone, "Through this incident, a large number of folk artists have been saved, so that they can gain fame and fortune." ”
Let paper-cutting go international Sanmenxia paper-cutting has become a licensed commodity for the Winter Olympics
When Li Zhumei learned that the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics was scheduled for the Spring Festival, she believed that this was an opportunity to promote the Chinese New Year culture, so while providing licensed goods for the Winter Olympics, she also invited friends from all over the world to come to China in Langzhong, Sichuan Province, and promoted paper-cut works to the world in the form of paper-cut red envelopes and paper-cut pendants. He also specially created a paper-cut work for the Panamanian Chinese, "Kunpeng Spreads Its Wings, Tiggo Welcomes Spring", which was sent to the Panamanian ambassador to China.
The work designed by Li Zhumei's team for this Winter Olympics is "Ten Thousand Blessings welcoming spring", which is a big "spring" character at a glance, and there are many unique elements under close inspection. In the middle of the word "spring" is a peony flower, representing the blossoming of wealth, and below is two children skating together, perfectly combining the elements of the New Year and the Winter Olympics.
With the experience of 2008, this Winter Olympics, Li Zhumei's team will also create the content of the moment when Chinese athletes win the championship, due to the current closed-loop management of the Winter Olympics, Li Zhumei's team can not enter the competition site, but they still gather members from Sanmenxia, Guangzhou and other places, ready to cut paper at any time.
On February 5, after the Chinese short track speed skating team won the championship, Li Zhumei's team carried out related paper-cutting creations. It is believed that in future competitions, with the increase in the number of Chinese gold medals, a series of exquisite paper-cut works will continue to jump into everyone's field of vision.