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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. [Volume 39, Number 2. 11th March 1976]

Chinese Crafts Exhibition

Chinese Crafts Exhibition

My overall impression of the exhibition is that old techniques of media are being used to say new things. Tapestry, carving, lacquer work, sculpture, silverware, basketry, painting and textile work are among the crafts exhibited. All are traditional, yet many are being used in entirely new ways that speak vividly of China today.

One of the most arresting pieces was a traditional painting of mountains with very non-traditional railway in the foreground, while another - one of my favourites - was a large tapestry called 'New Barefoot Doctors' which conveyed a strength and vigour that was really startling. Strenth and vigour seem to be key words to describe what is happening with crafts in China today (all the exhibites are under five years old), where craft is used to speak of the experience of the people. This is illustrated by the statuette of the barefoot doctor (or any of the other 'barefoot doctor' exhibits), the paintings of bridges, construction works and railways, the sculpture entitled 'A Graduate Leaving for the Countryside'.

All these seem to show that crafts are being used to express meaningfully the experience of the craftsman in the new China.

All this tends to emphasize what is only one aspect of the exhibition. Other exhibits - jade carvings, silk screens - sewed entirely traditionally, a witness that the old crafts are not forgotten, and that the degree of skill is still as high as ever. That level of skill is certainly rarely seen in New Zealand. I recall the 32 concentric ivory balls that took two people a year to carve.

Finally, then, one thing at least is clear from the exhibition that the arts are flourishing in China today.