Foreign market rescues ethnic embroidery
Print Edition
Whenever Wei Fengxian attends a big event in her home county, she and her family wear delicately embroidered garments signifying their Dong ethnic identity.
Wei, now 51 years old, began to learn Dong embroidery when she was eight. The exquisite handicraft was a must for girls of her ethnic group, one of China’s largest minorities, numbering nearly 3 million across the country.
Today she designs and produces traditional garments in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. She lives in Tongle Township in Sanjiang County.
Wei’s work is so distinctive that it was added to Guangxi’s regional intangible cultural heritage list in 2009.
“Embroidery is a really important part of Dong culture,” she said.
In 2008, 270 pieces of embroidery were presented to delegations at the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, the regional capital, representing Guangxi’s ethnic heritage.
Despite its beauty, her embroidery is labor-intensive and not many young people want to learn, meaning the handicraft will become a museum piece.
Ignored folk art
“Most young people have gone to big cities to seek decent salaries and a better life, leaving the handicraft largely ignored,” says Wei.
In an attempt to revitalize Dong embroidery, Wei and fellow villagers established a study center, to pass on the art of Dong embroidery by training young girls.
But the center, just a simple room in Wei’s small house, only attracted a few learners.
“We don’t have enough money to run the center effectively because we don’t charge the students anything,” Wei says, adding that the center emerged from her “pure passion” for the craft.
Chen Zixin, a township official, says the local government is trying hard to keep their heritage alive.
“We are trying to make the Dong embroidery a central feature of our thriving local tourism. We want tourists to buy embroidery when they visit,” Chen says.
The local government now sponsors exhibitions and rewards winners of annual contests in an attempt to ensure the embroidery skills survive.
“I hope the government will allocate more funds to develop our embroidery,” Wei says.
The market, particularly demand from overseas, might come to the rescue of Dong embroidery, but only if it lowers its prices to raise its popularity,” says Liu Huijun, director of the Guangxi Arts and Crafts Research Institute.
A delicate piece of Dong embroidery can sell for 6,000 yuan (US$980), “which scares many people away in domestic market,” Liu says.
Most buyers are museums and enterprises, but the numbers are low.
Liu and other enthusiasts are eyeing the international market, seeking avenues for expansion. He has contacted a few overseas companies that are now placing monthly orders.
His team are designing patterns to suit the tastes of international buyers, and women like Wei are producing them.
“If they complete the embroidery by the 10-day deadline, we buy their production at a reasonable price,” says Liu.
Going overseas
In April, Dong embroidery made its debut in the UK where 200 pieces were exhibited and sold.
“The good sales sent the village into an embroidery craze. The women of Sanjiang all wanted to be part of the production line, since they can make good money at home while tending to their farmland and families,” Liu says.
Liu and his team are aiming high, planning to expand in Canada and the United States.
“Our vision is that someday the Dong embroidery will be spread around the globe,” Liu says.
Long-term contracts have been signed between Liu’s team and the Dong weavers, such as Wei and her coworkers in Sanjiang.
“The best way to protect a dying art is to develop it with the help of the market,” Liu says, adding that in this way Dong embroidery will be passed on to future generations and allow them to make an adequate income.
“I hope young people will come back from cities and help us develop this traditional art, because it is the essence of our culture and needs serious protection,” says weaver Wei.
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