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Designers get creative with ethnic craftsmen
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THE Kam are one of the 55 ethnic minorities in China, and live mostly in eastern Guizhou Province.
They live in large groups like a huge joint family and have succeeded in retaining their traditions. They speak the Kam language and wear their long-established dresses and their villages look exactly like it was centuries ago.
Last year, Hangzhou designer Cheng Shiyi lived with the Kam people in Guizhou for two weeks as a backpacker. Apart from being amazed at their distinctive architecture, costumes, accessories, art and music, she also discovered that urbanization was undermining the local culture.
Young Kam people prefer to work as waiters in cities rather than learn traditional craftsmanship. Many of them now walk around in T-shirts and jeans, says Cheng, adding that “being a craftsman today does not earn much.”
The 26-year-old Cheng, who graduated from the University of Arts London, saw business possibilities in a culture that she was also keen on saving.
“I am a designer. What I can do is connect good designers with the ethnic group’s rich culture.”
She launched a project in Hangzhou called “Craft+” that invites designers who are interested in living with the minorities and learn their craft and design products based on ethnic cultures.
The project also generates employment for Guizhou artisans who produce the designed pieces, and thereby retaining the traditional culture and techniques.
“We don’t inherit the culture, we help its continuation,” says Cheng.
Kam village in Guizhou is the first stop. Seven designers including Cheng — and all with overseas education — are members of the residency program.
In May, they toured over 10 Kam villages, lived with old Kam people, tried various Kam costumes and learned their tools, and interviewed local craftsman.
They took in the picturesque landscapes and wonderful local cuisines, besides heavy humidity. The result was the creation of a series of products including accessories, jewelry, and kitchenware.
Designer Liu Lin used Kam cloth to create a handbag. The bag draws inspiration from the Kam women’s swing kit, which is a cube when open and a cruciate piece when folded.
Made only by Kam people, the cloth is dark blue and crimson in color because it is dyed with indigo leaves three or four times, and then dyed again with a paste made of red fruit skins and stones.
Though basically a cotton fabric, Kam cloth is stiff, smooth and shimmering — “an ideal fabric for handbags” as Liu says — because locals polish it with egg white and then beat it repeatedly for over two weeks, and finally starches it with oxide gelatin.
Cheng’s works are accessories. The epaulet is composed of dozens of pieces of rhomboids in yellow and brown color system. They are inspired by the village scene where hundreds of black-ridged rooftops, high and low, array at random, glimmer under sunset.
“Exactly opposite to urban uniformed planning, houses here are not planned, either the direction or the height,” says Cheng. “The beauty of random construction is what urban unifying lacks.”
She also made a three-in-one accessory composed of a silver collar; a pendant inspired by the ridged roofs, and some long tassels. Users can choose to wear a collar only or the whole set, depending on their choice and occasion.
Cheng says she learned the method from a local embroidery craftswoman, who makes unique embroidery pieces.
Designer Yao Yiming created jewelry that was inspired by Kam architecture’s traditional mortise and tendon joints, “because bridging and connecting represent culture exchange.”
Designer Ban Gong’s cheese board, made of metal, features the pattern of bamboo joints “so it is a mixture of modern and traditional design.”
This year, Craft+ is spending time at Dehong Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province with nine designers. Cheng says they were amazed to see bamboo-carving technology, a musician who plays 12 notes on a flute with just one hole, and sword that cuts iron as if it was mud!
“We wish more people would know about these interesting cultures before they disappear. Market demand can solve the problem,” says Cheng.
“If we can ensure more jobs for local craftsmen, that would ensure the survival of customs.”
Craft+ has not yet started selling their products but it may happen next year when they have enough products to sell. You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram for support.
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