9ISS Tour = Special Access to Textiles + Experts In China
by Amy Putansu, as published in Surface Design Association’s newsblog
Travel to China from almost anywhere is no small undertaking.
Organizing a truly open international symposium-meaning any participant
can simply register to attend without institutional invitation or approval –
has little precedent in this part of the world.
In Fall 2014 – now almost a year ago – I undertook the journey to China to
attend just such an event – From the Silkroad to the World: 9th
International Shibori Symposium (9ISS) in Hangzhou. What follows is an
overview of that once-in-a-lifetime experience, plus some reflections on
what was, for me, a career-strengthening endeavor.
Created by the China National Silk Museum and the World Shibori
Network (WSN), the 9ISS platform for the exchange of research findings,
professional opinions and artistic accomplishment was both unprecedented
and exceptionally rewarding for the many scholars in the field of textile
archeology and history, educators from art and textile institutions and
leaders in fashion and design industries in both China and abroad who
attended.
Co-chaired by Ms. Yoshiko I. WADA of WSN and Dr. ZHAO
Feng of the China National Silk Museum, the 5-day program included
ancient, ethnic, and contemporary textile art exhibitions, workshops,
demonstrations, a craft bazaar, gallery talks and dance performance by
primary school children in addition to panel presentations and seminars. An
international student competition organized by Dr. Kinor JIANG of Hong
Kong Polytechnic University’s Institute of Textile and Clothing, a largescale outdoor fiber art installation by Prof. SHI Hui and students of
the China Academy of Art and the Gambiered Silk Fashion Design
Project by Ms. LIAO Xuelin of the Art Institute of Foshan were highlights –
among many other remarkable events. (Find complete information, list of
participants and additional photos at shibori.org/iss . Download pdf files of
all papers via Symposium Proceedings at 9iss.wordpress.com/proceedings2).
Carefully planned pre- and post-conference tours were also available to
help attendees gain the maximum benefit from special access to the Far
Eastern country where one of the oldest civilizations was born. I opted for
the pre-conference tour.
I’ve been teaching textile history and world textiles for a few years,
educating myself primarily through texts. Traveling with renowned textile
scholars, historians and artists from around the world provided an
opportunity to interact with more intimacy than a typical conference
setting might allow. This kind of special access is a regular feature of ISS
tours.
This one included visits to museums, collections and studios that were well
designed for examining aspects of culture and textile traditions unique to
China. They complemented the symposium proceedings while offering a
broader view of areas surrounding Shanghai and Hangzhou, plus a glimpse
of contemporary Chinese culture and living conditions. Once the largest
city in the world (in 12-13th century during Song Dynasty era), Hangzhou’s
West Lake Cultural Landscape has been listed as a UNESCO World
Heritage site.
The pre-conference tour participants left their Shanghai hotel to embark
upon a tour (via bus) to JinZe Arts Center located in JinZe Town on the
outskirts of Shanghai. Its 1300+ year history give its waterways, canals and
bridges significant historical resonance.
JinZe Arts Center itself is a maze-like, mysterious compound of many
structures that provide spaces for studios, workshops, research and an
archive of over 5,000 objects. The center can accommodate up to 50
people, so this is where participants stayed for the 4-day tour.
Since the center is in its early stages of development, our pre-conference
tour group was the largest the facility had served thus far.
The environment is spare and remotely temple-like, with beautiful interior
and exterior details. There are plans for an artist-in-residency program,
exhibitions and studios in a variety of media.
The arrival at JinZe was thoughtfully choreographed to provide optimal
transition into the new surroundings. Participants divided into 2 smaller
groups in order to tour the small town, part way on foot and part way by
boat along the canal. On the boat ride, Chinese traditional song was
performed as we floated back to the arts center.
The afternoon was spent in the impressive textile archive room at JinZe.
Textile division director Ms. Edith Cheung presented a number of objects
from the collection relevant to the symposium and excellent examples of
Chinese tradition. Cheung pointed out only natural dyes – except the purple
– were used on this dragon robe. The cloth is constructed of a very fine silk
tapestry weave or kè si. The ‘horse hoof’ design of the cuff was among
modifications made in the 19th century to accommodate the activity of
horseback riding.
The weaving studio is the most complete and operational facility at JinZe.
Looms are primarily traditional Chinese handlooms from the JiangNan area
– the type used by villagers. When there was a ration on commercial cloth
in the 1960s, a great deal of simple cotton plain weave cloth was hand
woven on this type of loom for everyday use, like bedding and clothing.
A special pre-tour feature was presenter Dr. Tomoko Torimaru, a scholar of
Miao, a Chinese minority group known for complex traditional costume.
After delivering a presentation on specific Miao textiles in the JinZe
collection, she guided participants through hands-on projects
demonstrating a primary Miao technique akin to kumihimo braiding. In
Miao textile construction, these carefully braided lengths would then be
couched onto garments, baby carriers and other textiles in highly
decorative patterns.
Other activities included working with tu bu, a type of Chinese hand woven
cotton folk cloth. Tu bu is the simple cloth of rationed-era China that would
be made on looms like the ones in the JinZe weaving studio. The plain
weave structure of tu bu exemplifies limitless variations of beautiful colorand-weave effects.
In the evening, guests were invited to a traditional tea ceremony. It was
presented by an elegant young Chinese woman, studying to be a monk,
who was an expert at tea ceremony.
Next stop: Nantong City on the north bank of the Yangtze River, across
from Shanghai. During the Han Dynasty (206-220 AD) the town was known
for producing salt.
Nantong is also famous for the traditional textile technique of blue calico
as well as several types of embroidery each considered to beintangible
cultural heritage.
Intangible cultural heritage is a term used by UNESCO to describe aspects
of culture like skills, music or other expressions that are recognized by the
population and the government to be culturally valuable in a nonquantitative sense – and therefore worth protecting.
Blue calico is a cotton textile with white patterning on an indigo
ground. The patterning is achieved by printing a resist-paste onto the cloth
made of soybean powder and lime. This paste dries for a long period before
indigo dyeing. After dyeing the paste must be scraped off to be fully
removed as it is not water soluble.
This technique originated during the Tang and Song dynasties (6181297AD). Tour participants witnessed blue calico from several perspectives
on a day trip to Nantong. Artisans specialize in each aspect of the process
that begins with the cutting of pattern stencils by hand. The paper stencil is
made waterproof with a coating of tung oil.
At a second studio, 2 artisans worked skillfully together printing the resist
paste onto meters of cotton cloth. In this large studio, many lengths of
printed cloth hung draped in rafters to dry. Also located in this space were
the large indigo vats for dyeing calico.
The experience of blue calico was made complete at China Nantong Blue
Calico Museum. Chinese art master and many-generation indigo dyer
Dr. Wu Yuanxin founded the museum in 1997 with a collection reported to
consist of over 26,000 blue calico fabrics. On view are tools and equipment
involved in the making of blue calico, including a cotton spinning wheel and
several looms on which demonstrations were offered.
Day 4 of the tour included the city of Suzhou, about 70 miles west of
Shanghai. Suzhou has been associated with silk production since at least
the 13th century. The artisans of the region are famous for silksu (short for
Suzhou) embroidery, one of the China’s 4 traditional styles.
Su embroidery consists of satin stitch using very fine silk thread. The most
famous variation of suembroidery is executed on sheer ground cloth and is
double-sided, or shuang mian xiu. This is the type most practiced atSuzhou
Embroidery Research Institute of China.
Also considered an intangible cultural heritage, the practice of Suzhou
embroidery is studied at the center with a master/ apprentice approach.
The studio stretched for many rooms with multiple work stations, each with
pieces in various states of completion. The studio tour ended in the gift
shop where framed and mounted embroideries were presented in dramatic
lighting.
Nowadays the primary audience for this kind of work is the tourist market
(think koi fish, tigers and peacocks), but during the
12th century su embroidery was used to produce wall pieces that
functioned like paintings. By the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) embroidered
textiles of all types were used by the imperial family.
The investigation and analysis of blue calico and other intangible cultural
heritage textiles continued throughout the main symposium.
The insights offered through first-hand experiences on the pre-conference
tour provided an invaluable foundation, and indeed turned out to be
unforgettable, life-changing travel in China. I have witnessed culturally
unique textile practices in the presence of expert travel companions!
Together we shared extraordinary experiences, including studio and
location visits, normally inaccessible but for the influence and networking
magic of WSN and Yoshiko Wada to seek out and arrange.
From those authentic and personal exchanges we moved directly into the
formal symposium. The experience was rounded out with museum exhibits
of historical and contemporary textiles and lectures delivered by the
leaders in our field.
I can’t imagine another way to receive such a broad perspective on not only
shibori, but also the larger, global movement toward sustaining textile
traditions and cultural resources. The very existence of 9ISS underscores
the fact that the global textile community cares deeply about education –
as we looked closely at the past, the present and into the future of these
traditions.