Recently, in the second batch of "three projects" talent commendation list in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Zhang Yanmei, head of the Taijiang County Ethnic Folk Costume Brocade Craft Factory, was awarded the title of "Famous Embroidery Lady".
In Cuiwen Street, Taijiang County, Zhang Yanmei, a disabled embroidery woman, and her craft factory are famous, and she named the craft factory "Yangli Miao Embroidery Workshop".
Zhang Yanmei on crutches
Zhang Yanmei was diagnosed with polio at the age of 3 and, although physically corrected, she needed to walk on crutches for the rest of her life. However, since she was a child, she has a special dedication and love for Miao embroidery, after graduating from high school, she took over her mother's "baton" and became a real embroidery lady, going to Beijing to study, opening her own shop, holding a pair of crutches to and fro, shuttling through Miao village, from embroidery, planting blue grass, collecting indigo, dyeing... It has led to a group of poor groups.
Zhang Yanmei's mother helped her wear silver jewelry
"In the early days of entrepreneurship, everyone couldn't believe I could stick with it." Zhang Yanmei said that it is difficult to make the Miao embroidery industry bigger and stronger by herself. So, take your own miao embroidery finished products outside to pick up orders. After receiving the order, she supported her crutches to and from the townships in the county, shuttled through the Miaozhai villages, and mobilized the embroidery girls to join her Miao embroidery business.
Zhang Yanmei (center) instructs the embroidery lady to do embroidery
In 1998, she went to Beijing to learn processing techniques, and after learning, she added popular elements to the design, making Miao embroidery more acceptable to the public. Slowly, Zhang Yanmei's career became bigger and bigger, and in October 2015, she established a small and micro enterprise, adopting the model of "company + poor household + farmer", and developing more than 30 left-behind women into embroidery girls.
The embroidery ladies learn embroidery in Zhang Yanmei's craft workshop
The nation's is the world's! Zhang Yanmei cherishes the opportunity to connect intangible cultural heritage batik with international standards every time, and has participated in fashion weeks in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places at her own expense for many times, promoting Guizhou national products while being able to communicate with domestic and foreign designers. In 2021, Cuicui, a famous jewelry designer from Belgium, made a special trip to Zhang Yanmei's craft workshop, and the two of them came together because of Miao embroidery, colliding with the design spark "localization of international culture" and "internationalization of local culture", so that China's intangible cultural heritage went to the world.
Cuicui, a famous jewelry designer from Belgium, made a special trip to Zhang Yanmei's craft workshop for exchanges
The reporter saw in Zhang Yanmei's craft workshop that every piece of scrap material and every small object was decorated very beautifully by her.
Zhang Yanmei designed the costume
Scarves, throw pillows, bags, tea parties, T-beams, souvenirs... At present, the products designed by Zhang Yanmei are gradually diversified, so that intangible embroidery can "add icing on the cake" in these household and daily necessities. In particular, some seemingly inconspicuous scraps, after Zhang Yanmei designed "dressed up", turned plain into magic, becoming a piece of jewelry that is both simple and natural and modern.
Jewelry designed by Zhang Yanmei
"I can't do without the help of governments at all levels and enthusiastic people." In recent years, Zhang Yanmei has successively received poverty alleviation from the state-level auxiliary poverty alleviation demonstration base and the provincial-level demonstration site for the employment of the disabled to share dividends, and has also been supported by the "Guangdong-Qian Cooperation" project of the Guangdong Provincial Disabled Persons' Federation and the Guizhou Provincial Disabled Persons' Federation.
Sunny and cheerful Zhang Yanmei (left)
Draught does not forget the well digger. While Zhang Yanmei was working hard to start a business, she took the initiative to pair up with a help village and turned 10 severely disabled people in the village into members who transferred shares to dividends to increase their income. She also enlisted the support of the Disabled Persons' Federation at all levels to hold a training course for the disabled embroidery girls, so that everyone can earn money through embroidery, and more than 80 disabled people were trained in 2021 alone.
Zhang Yanmei held a training class for disabled embroidery girls in the craft workshop
"Affected by the epidemic, our orders are much less, and now as long as there is work, we will take it and first protect the income of the embroidery lady." Zhang Yanmei said that the embroidery ladies in the workshop are mainly disabled people and farmers who have relocated from other places, although the government has policies and subsidies for them, but they still want to supplement their families through their own crafts, so they try to find orders to do it for them.
Zhang Yanmei went out to do fieldwork
"There are fewer festivals, exhibitions and other activities, so we will live stream the goods." Zhang Yanmei said: Recently, through e-commerce operation, new business channels have been opened up, and embroidery products have been exported to the United States and Japan, realizing the dream of e-commerce order management.
Zhang Yanmei demonstrated batik making skills to students
Since Zhang Yanmei embarked on the road of batik, embroidery and silver jewelry, her products have also won many honors in China. In 2019, she was named the "Most Beautiful Embroidery Lady" in Taijiang County, and now she is named the "Famous Embroidery Lady" in Qiandongnan Prefecture, and she has interpreted a beautiful life with a crutch and a stick.
Source: Sky Eye News