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Magical museum of folk cultures

By Tan Weiyun | April 18, 2011, Monday | Print Edition

ONE of China's most fascinating museums of folk culture will open soon in Fengxian District overlooking Hangzhou Bay. Four stories of spectacular displays take visitors on a magical mystery tour of China's many cultures. Tan Weiyun reports.

Folk art and culture fans have found a haven in a new museum of Chinese folk culture and thousands of folk arts.

The four-story, 20,000-square-meter Shanghai Chinese Folk Art and Craft Museum in Fengxian District displays extensive collections of folk art pieces, both ancient and modern. It offers hands-on activities and interactive games to help visitors learn about culture.

Demonstrations and folk performances will be staged daily.

The museum will hold a soft-opening on May 18; the official opening ceremony will be in late May.

It's located in a serene setting near a beach on Hangzhou Bay, and a trip to the museum is a perfect weekend outing.

Collections include colorful costumes of the country's minority ethnic groups, carvings, ceramics, embroidery, textiles, examples of music and dance and extensive information about customs. Both ancient and modern works are displayed.

The third and fourth floors are dedicated to Tibetan culture. Tongren County in the Tibet Autonomous Region has sent hundreds of valuable art works, including thangka paintings, Buddha statues and ancient cooking vessels.

"You just can't imagine how vast and splendid China's folk art is, and this museum is just the tip of the giant iceberg we hope to present," says Huang Nanrong, the museum's investor.

The museum's name is inscribed at the entrance by master painter Zhang Ding, one of the designers of the national emblem of the People's Republic of China. The master died last year at the age of 93.

One small section of the museum will display foreign folk arts on a rotating basis; mini folk art shows under consideration include embroidery from Ukraine, glass glazing from the Czech Republic and cigar-making from Cuba, according to Huang.

Live performances and folk art demonstrations will be held year round; around 100 artists from around the country have been invited to perform on a rotating basis.

The third floor for Tibetan culture includes interactive games and activities. Visitors can try carving a piece of wood or stone, paint part of a thangka, forge a small piece of Tibetan silver like a blacksmith, or just sit back and enjoy Tibetan-style buttered tea and ciba, a glutinous rice cake.

On the second floor handicrafts of the majority Han and many other ethnic minority groups are displayed. Visitors can stop at any stall and try their hand at making leather puppets for a show play, carving a simple bird from a tree root or cutting a butterfly from red paper with a pair of scissors.

"People can get to know more about a folk art by learning it. Plus, it's more fun than just looking at it. Children will love it," Huang says. Some visitors leave their works behind and they are hung from the ceiling on strings in a colorful display.

The first floor features a wide range of folk arts, including sea sponge figures, bamboo shoes from Shanxi Province, dough sculptures from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and many others.

One of the highlights is a silk Chinese cabbage inspired by the famous jade cabbage sculpture from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), now exhibited at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Also on display are the works of Liu Shuqin, a 72-year-old woman from China's northeast, who tears calendars apart and creates pictures. "Each work is the only one in the world because the colors, the patterns and the tearing methods would never be the same," Huang says.

Visitors can see eggshell sculptures, a dragonfly's wing inscribed with 300 poems from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and painting comprised of colorful beans.

An old pillow contains a hole in the center - a child would place his ear in the hold when he slept to prevent discomfort. "You would marvel at the thoughtful design of our ancestors," Huang says.

The spacious plaza in front of the museum is an open-air stage for folk performances. From Monday to Thursday night, the square becomes an open-air cinema; on Friday and Saturday it's the stage for live bands.

A long red wall is for children's doodling. Nearby a snack street will be constructed, selling snacks from around China and from other countries.



Date: Soft-opens on May 18

Address: 9 Haiwan Rd

Tel: 5712-7798



How to get there

By driving: Take the S4 and get off at the Haiwan Road exit.

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