How do "new craftsmen" inherit traditional art after 1980s?

European Times special correspondent Lingyun, Zhao Xu and Li Xuefeng reported that artisans originated from handicraft industry, and workers made products with skillful skills and made things to the extreme. This is the true nature of craftsmen. With the change of lifestyle, traditional handicrafts are facing the problem of inheritance. How to attract young people to enter this industry has become a topic for people in the industry to think about. Veteran artists are also worried that they are not sure whether young people who grew up playing computer and iPad are still interested in traditional crafts.

Guo Ming and his design team created the emblem of Beijing Olympic Games, the emblem of Shanghai World Expo and the appreciation of cloisonne bottle, the national gift of APEC Beijing Summit. (Source: The pictures in this article are all from the Italian edition of European Times)

"Traditional handicrafts will never go far"

Guo Ming is the chief craftsman of Gongmei Group Co., Ltd., and he has worked in Gongmei industry for decades. In his view, "traditional handicrafts have never gone far."

Guo Ming said, "The so-called craftsman spirit is that you can't be impetuous, endure loneliness, endure hardship and keep your duty."

Today, the development of industrial and aesthetic industries is walking on two legs. In Guo Ming's view, traditional handicraft products will not be the mainstream mass products of society. Like cloisonne or hand-made lacquer vases, they should be products that meet high-end customization and personalized needs. Modern handicrafts need to conform to the lifestyle and aesthetic taste of modern people.

"Chinese style and China elements have become the world trend. Cloisonne jewelry and handicrafts have become representatives of people's aesthetic and cultural tastes. " Zhang Jingtai's inheritors are delighted to find that more and more people pay attention to China's traditional culture and love and appreciate the beauty of traditional handicrafts.

With the development of industry and social progress, traditional handicrafts are facing the problem of inheritance. Guo Ming said frankly, "Most young people enter this industry because of their own interests. The more young people like this, the more promising the development of this industry. Different from old craftsmen, young people entering this industry is no longer a little deduction, and enterprises have also given them more design space, giving them opportunities to exert their imagination and creativity. "

Zhang Jingtai's inheritor said, "This industry has always been in a state of slow inheritance and development, but the enthusiasm of young people has rejuvenated this old industry."

Zhang Ying said, "In order to retain young people, enterprises improve their quality of life on the one hand, and encourage them to try and innovate on the other. At the same time, the mode of master taking apprentice is gradually changing. The master passed on his understanding and cultural stories to young people, making them interested in taking root here. "

"Traditional industries are entering the campus more and more frequently. We hope that more young people will know about this industry since childhood, and even some people will like it and take it as a career in the future. At the same time, we also organize some experience activities to let ordinary citizens know about the art industry and traditional handicrafts. " Guo Ming believes that under the promotion of China's intangible cultural heritage protection and inheritance policy, there are always young people who can settle down.

From "artisan popularity" to "literati model" passed down from generation to generation.

Zheng Song, born in 1983, worships the intangible cultural heritage "wood weaving?" Gao, the inheritor of hand-made folding fans, is the teacher. More than 30 years ago, Shi Conghong, an expert in fan culture and a collector of folding fans enabled the North School to inherit and carry forward its fan-making skills.

A modeling knife may be the beginning of the inheritance of fan making skills.

The "mystery" is caused by accident and interest.

On weekends, Gao Zheng always comes to the store for tea and chats with friends who like fans. The fans with the words "Hui Feng He Chang" written on the top of the teahouse express the feelings of the fans. These words were written by crosstalk actor Ma Ji.

Ma Ji wrote 29 sectors for Gao Zheng, and their meeting was purely accidental. It's just like Gao Zhengxue's experience as a fan-it's purely accidental.

Gao Zheng, a carpenter, tried to buy wooden fans for sale in Liulichang after work.

Someone gave the abandoned old fan to Gao Zheng, who was setting up a stall in the street at that time. He gradually became fascinated with the skill of making fans from imitation. "What's so difficult about a small fan? But if I knew it was so difficult, I might not have the courage to walk in. "

In order to buy materials for making fans, I met Hong by chance, worshipped him as a teacher, and devoted myself to learning how to make fans. "I seem to be pushed forward step by step by life, step by step."

After Hong's death, an exhibition was held for him in 2008. He got to know Cao Xiaodi, a master of fan making in the south, worshipped him as a teacher and continued to learn fan making technology. Unlike Master Gao Zheng, disciple Zheng Song learned to make fans out of his own interest.

Zheng Song, who had a strong interest in handicraft production since childhood, tried to make guqin and teapot, and finally chose to make fans. "Making a teapot is like an incremental process, and making a fan is more like a process of peeling and removing." Zheng Song likes bamboo and prefers the feeling of carving.

After graduating from civil engineering, Zheng Song entered a design institute and worked as a designer for eight years. "The idea of being a craftsman and trying something you like is constantly sprouting. Resigned at the end of 20 16. "

"I really want to inject my thoughts into the artifact." Zheng Song said, "Young people have a stronger ability to obtain information. I started from self-study, and my internal motivation is very sufficient. Doing design work has cultivated a good idea for me. If you want to make a vessel, you need to start with its materials. "

In nearly a year, Zheng Song went to Hunan and Guilin to find good materials and understand the characteristics of bamboo. Come to Suzhou and other places, visit famous artists and learn fan making technology.

"When we are interested in something, we will constantly absorb knowledge through reading and visiting, and then make a summary. We prefer to express our ideas in our works, but before that, we need to constantly hone our skills. Both skill and thought are indispensable. " Zheng Song thinks he has some "literary prestige".

Skills are accumulated over time.

"A few simple processes don't sound complicated, but they are not easy to master." Zheng Song said that this is a process of continuous practice.

Now, Zheng Song learns to make fans while working. "Every time you are a fan, it is the limit of your ability at that time, and it is a work that does not count time. I hope that each work can be made according to the hand type, characteristics and needs of the customizer. I hope that when they hold the fan in their hands, they can feel the correct' soft and hard' feeling. "

Zheng Song said frankly, "The improvement of quality is bound to be accompanied by the amount paid. At each stage, there are problems that need to be solved. "

When Gao Zheng felt this way, he had not learned to be a fan for 30 years. "It was not until recent years that I dared to say that I could be a good fan."

China's painting, calligraphy, sculpture and other traditional cultures and crafts can be displayed on fans. Gao Zheng thinks that the skill of making fans is endless.

Inheriting "I hope someone can really sit down"

In Gao Zheng's view, "fans can be opened and closed freely", which inherits positive energy and ancient wisdom.

Zheng Song thinks that a small fan is a moving picture, which implicitly expresses the aesthetics and interest of the East.

"Such a beautiful thing naturally needs to be passed down and developed." When Gao Zheng took over the traditional fan-making tools from Master, he understood that inheritance was a heavy courage. Over the years, he has received more than a dozen apprentices. "Some people have come and gone, some people are eager for success, and some people want to replace traditional handwork with mechanical equipment. The new generation and the older generation naturally have cognitive differences and contradictions in inheritance. "

"I don't charge, and there is no threshold. I believe that some of them will really like the process of making fans, and they can really sit down and concentrate on their studies. " Gao Zheng said that after the weather turns cold, he will go into the mountains to look for bamboo. Good bamboo is hard to get. Similarly, he is waiting for more young people who really like being fans.

When Guo Shigang created, he often consulted with his father. The picture shows Guo Jianjie, his father, giving Guo Shigang guidance and suggestions on making moon cake facial makeup.

Creativity and traditional art "father and son soldiers"

Facebook is a painting on the faces of traditional opera actors in China, which is used as a cosmetic plastic art in stage performances. Different characters will be equipped with different patterns. In the eyes of laymen, Facebook is just a colorful face, but in the eyes of Guo Shigang, a Facebook lover born after 1980s, traditional art that has been passed down for thousands of years can also be "fashionable". Today, his creation has made many young people gradually understand and love Facebook art.

Guo Shigang said that his love and persistence for Facebook originated from his father. "Guo Dad" liked to write and draw when he was a child, and made hand-painted kites, masks and other folk toys. Later, I made friends with the Beijing Opera Troupe at work, regained my childhood hobbies, engaged in facial painting and made innovations in modeling, and made many facial modeling that people loved. He also relies on this good craft to support his family.

Guo Shigang grew up with his father and unconsciously fell in love with this craft. Out of his love for, Guo Shigang painted for more than 20 years, and once studied under Fu, during which he created many amazing works, some of which were also collected by China Arts and Crafts Museum.

Today, he is also the inheritor of Facebook painting in Xicheng District, Beijing.

"I especially like this old craft. I am a person with a little crazy ideas. I often like to innovate in tradition and do some new exploration and research? " Guo Shigang said. In his creation, he often does something "new". The older generation thought that Facebook should be symmetrical, so they had a whim to try to create an asymmetric 3/4 face. After the work was completed, they found that the effect was great. So, he created half a face, an incomplete face, and even made new attempts on different carriers.

It is his bold attempt that has injected a new source of inspiration into traditional facial makeup and become a non-traditional embodiment that young people like. Outer city wall

Shi Gang also created a series of works combining Chinese and Western styles. He said, who said that you can't draw a face with a high nose and deep eyes? As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, he got new inspiration from generate and made a moon cake mask.

Talking about future creation, Guo Shigang said with a smile, "I want to let more young people know the traditional art of Facebook through my persistence and innovation."