Join us for an exploration of each artist’s craft, trajectory and connection to legacy throughout the weekend in this interactive artist talk.
Bohai Mohe embroidery comes from a long tradition among the Bohai people. Characterized by the special tussah silk and the triangular stitching, Bohai Mohe Embroidery has become popular as gifts.
Suzhou or Su embroidery is famous for its “beautiful designs, varied stitches, superb workmanship and elegant colors.” Used as decorative wall hangings, Su embroidery is sustained through formal training programs and commercial industry.
Qiang’s ethnic embroidery was a means for individual families and is a unique art created only by the Qiang people. Qiang embroiders work primarily with cotton threads—but also silk— using sixteen types of stitches to shape vivid, bright patterns representing local flora, fauna, and daily activities on clothes and household textiles.
Miao Embroidery is different than other forms of Chinese embroidery. Working with silk and cotton thread, as well as horsehair, embroiderers adorn cuffs, sleeves, collars and tunic fronts with designs such as fantastical animals (dragons and phoenixes) as well as ordinary insects, fish and flowers. These designs are not simply decorative; they also record daily life, important life cycle events and community legends and history.
Watch the artists at work throughout the weekend at the Artisan Village.
PRICES
Everyone: FREE
Saturday, July 12, 2014
6:00PM – 6:45PM
Zone 5
235 Queens Quay West, Toronto Ontario
Cai Meiying
Ms. Cai has been practicing the craft for 30 years. She trained at the Suzhou Embroidery Research Center under master Wang Zhuzhi.
Sun Yanling
Ms. Sun is from Bohai County. She learned embroidery from her grandmother, but studied computer science in Beijing and worked as a make-up artist for film and TV projects. She later started a Bohai embroidery business and training school. “Bohai” refers to indigenous people who lived in the historical region of Manchuria; and “Mohe” was the name of an ancient empire.
Pan Yuzhen and Zhang Hongying
This is a mother-daughter pair of embroiderers. Ms. Pan Yuzhen is from Guizhou Province. She learned to embroider as a young girl, and she has been involved in the craft since the 1960s. She first came to Beijing in the 1970s, where she now lives year round. She has been selling her work and that of other Miao embroiderers in Guizhou in Panjiayuan Market, Beijing, for a decade. She has participated in the Santa Fe Craft Market for eight years, and has been featured in a book called An Shen Daji.
Li Xinglu
Ms. Li is president, designer, and founder of the Qiang Village Embroidery Workshop Co. Ltd. She is also a member of the Mao County Folk Literature and Art Association. She started learning embroidery from her mother at age six. In 2007, she was designated Excellent Inheritor by the province. Qiang embroidery is inscribed on National ICH list. And since the 2008 earthquake, which had a devastating impact on ethnic Qiang communities in Sichuan, some rebuilding efforts have been focused on the development of traditional crafts and ICH.