Boston, April 13, 2015 — Boston Children’s Museum will welcome a delegation of eleven folk artists from China traveling to the United States who will demonstrate their craft at the Museum on April 18. This visit is sponsored by the National Folk Art Association of China and organized by Great Seed in Beijing China.
(from left)Nancy Sato, Leslie Swartz and Peter Lew of Boston Children’s Museum honored by New England Chinese History Society in Sept. 2014 for founding Boston Dragon Boat Festival in 1979 (file photo).
Top-level folk artists from China will include demonstrations and workshops at Boston Children’s Museum. These interactions seek to deepen understanding of traditional Chinese folk art by people outside China. With raised awareness may come new ways of preserving and protecting the same folk arts that are at the brink of extinction. These arts and artists also represent a diversity of Chinese culture among the fifty-six ethnic groups in China including Han, Tibetan, Korean, Miao and Manchu.
“It is our honor to demonstrate China’s unique craftsmanship and artworks in one of the oldest and largest children’s museums in the world,” said Lisa Deng, CEO of Great Seed Inc., the initiator and organizer of the “Slow Made in China” event. “We believe that the intangible cultural heritages are a precious fortune that belongs to the whole society. We hope that this event can enrich Museum visitors knowledge, inspire their creativity, and plant a multicultural seed in their hearts with harmony and happiness.”
The following eleven artists will demonstrate their traditional Chinese art at Boston Children’s Museum on Saturday, April 18, from 11:00am – 4:00pm. Their presentations will include four workshops – two for woodblock prints and two for Chinese opera mask painting.
Tai Liping
Chinese New Year wood block printing artist, Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts, 20thgeneration of Fengxiang woodblock prints, entitled “First Class Folk Artist” jointly by UNESCO and Chinese Folk Art Association.
Song Shuiguan
Olivepit carving artist, National Artist of Arts and Crafts, and top winner of Chinese arts and crafts awards – the Mountain Flowers Awards.
Jin Yuanshan
Outstanding patchwork artist, recipient of UNESCO’s “Outstanding Handmade Goods Certification”, known as the “key person who can represent the artistic level of China’s handmade quilts.”
Jin Yongcai
Distinguished black copper expert from Yunnan Province and entitled the “Representative Figure in the China Arts and Crafts Industry”.
Yang Huazhen
Widely admired Tibetan master embroiderer, a Chinese National Cultural Heritage successor and a UNESCO folk art member.
Yao Huifen
Suzhou style embroidery artist, 4th generation of the “Needle God” Shen Shou, specializing in portraits and Chinese ink painting embroidery.
Huang Ying
Master paper-cutting artist, president of Mianyang Folk Literature and Art Association.
Sun Yanling
China’s Intangible Cultural embroidery successor, specializing in Bohai Mohe court and folk embroidery, a 1300 year old ancient art. She founded Embroidery House, to train tens of thousands of embroiderers to keep this ancient art alive.
Liu Lanfang
Qingyang Sachet artist, skilled at a large variety of embroider stitching methods.
Liu Zhongchang
A distinguished inheritor of the Miao embroidery craft and National Intangible Cultural Heritage Successor.
Lin Hongkui
Celebrated Beijing Opera mask painter.
While in the Northeast, this delegation will also present and demonstrate at Harvard, Yale, Columbia and New York City China Institute.
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