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Country crafts

Write: Zeth [2011-05-20]
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Country crafts

  • Source: Global Times
  • [08:27 January 12 2011]
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Kite from Weifang. Photo: Guo Yingguang

By Wu Ziru

Regular visitors to the The National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) may be surprised if they pay a visit this time: the spacious exhibition halls, used to mainly house some of the most elegant art from around the world, are now packed with an array of folk art pieces from the countryside of Shandong Province.

The world of folk art includes more than 4,000 works, including Chinese knots, colorful kites, New Year paintings and exquisite articles made of wood or osier-branches, all from Weifang, Linyi and Heze, places in Shandong famous for their own different folk art genres.

Opened on Sunday and scheduled to run until January 18, the large-scale exhibition, entitled Craftsmanship of the Countryside, is the outcome of four-year's research by Pan Lusheng, director of the Shandong University of Art & Design, and aims at promoting Shandong's folk art at a national scale.

The highlight of the exhibition is a hall showing the osier-branch weaving, which is mostly applied in Linyi, Southeast Shandong. A range of pretty hand-made baskets and handbags crafted from osier branches are on show, far more exquisite than any available at stores and supermarkets.

On another wall are pictures and words explaining how the branches grow, and an investigation into how many local people are still involved in the trade. A list displays names of craftsmen from different villages of this region who are generally regarded as very adept at this skill.

Pan said that, after four years, he had got a number of figures on the current situation in these places, which was very important for further efforts for preserving and boosting local folk art.

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