Lifestyle
Director General of UNESCO Irina Bokova (second left) visits the experience center COURTESY PHOTOSLooking at the [craft] masters at work, I was touched by their artistic charm and felt very proud of our traditional [Chinese] art. All of this makes me want to be creative myself.Wang Ning, visitor at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Center
Visitors experience paper makingUNESCO noted that in the context of excessive marketing, artisans tend to focus on the elements most favored by the market and neglect other aspects of their heritage, whose cultural value is equally important.
Well aware of this risk, Yongxin Huayun is taking concrete steps to prevent the artistic creation process from falling entirely under the influence of market trends.
“The masters only focus on creating their artworks, and we take responsibility for disseminating the information and selling them on our online platform. This way, we ensure that the creative process is not influenced by the market, and the masters can devote all their energy to their creation,” Luo told ChinAfrica.
Moreover, rather than focusing on solely selling the artworks, the experience center employees are trained to maximize the visitors’ experience. “It’s important to show visitors not just the products, but also to make them understand the stories behind the artworks,” said Chi Hongge, a staff member at the experience center.
Once the Qianmen neighborhood is fully established, Yongxin Huayun plans to build a dozen similar experience centers over the next decade, extending its operations to other places of China, and all the way to Paris and Australia.
Delighted by this perspective, Yao hopes the project can now unfold more quickly. “The more masters join the project, the larger the Qianmen cultural district will become. Then, the cycle of creation, transmission, protection and sale will be sustainable in the long term,” she said.
For the moment, she continues to do what she does best - sharing with the younger generation her passion for Suzhou embroidery, motivated by the fact that her beautiful creations will soon be accessible to enthusiasts all over the world.
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