Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum Opens

Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum was officially launched in October 2011. Situated on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal， the museum is a structure remodeled from old workshops of now defunct Red Thunder Silk Weaving Factory.

The new museum is an addition to the old museums nearby. Situated to the north of the museum are China Museum of Knifes， Swords and Scissors， China Fan Museum and China Umbrella Museum. Redesigned by Tanseisha， a Japanese design business of international renown， the refurbished factory compound now presents a fresh modern look and layout.

In a response to the grandness of the canal， the museum features two artworks in giant size at the entrance to the museum building. Visitors entering the museum will find themselves face a 6.2-meter-tall bronze Buddha statue against a background of a 14-meter-tall 4-meter-wide bronze mural titled “Plum Blossom.” The bronze Buddha statue was created by Han Meilin， a famous artist who now lives in retirement in Hangzhou whereas “Plum Blossom” is a masterpiece of Zhu Bingren， a Hangzhou native and national master of arts and crafts.

The building is divided into several functions sections.

The first floor is a shopping center where artifacts are on sale.

The second floor is home to master studios， a large space for provisional exhibitions， and workshops. The floor serves as a platform for artistic exchanges. So far， 28 masters have established their bases there. Visitors are able to watch how the masters work and how artworks take shape in their hands. The studios also provide an opportunity for enthusiasts to learn from masters and have direct contact.

The 3，000-square-meter exhibition space on the third floor is divided into six sections for different artworks: sculpture， porcelain， embroidery， weaving， metal and miscellaneous folk crafts. This part is dedicated to the regular exhibition of the exhibits.

At present， the museum has a collection of 577 artifacts， representing the some of the best of the city’s traditional arts and crafts. The exhibits not only highlight the glory of local arts and crafts but also present a new look of the creativity of the cultural industry of Hangzhou. There are also masterpieces by celebrated masters from outside of Hangzhou， the capital of Zhejiang Province.

Exhibits by local artists and artisans account for the majority of the collection. Dujinsheng brocades were invented in Hangzhou and sold well at home and abroad in the 1920s and 1930s. Lacework， a technique of Europe， was introduced in 1923 to Xiaoshan， previously a rural county and now a district of Hangzhou. Women in Xiaoshan combined the European technique with local embroidery and produced improved lacework that was exported to overseas markets. In the Song Dynasty， artisans in Fuyang， now a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou， learned to make paper using bamboo as raw material. The exhibits at the museum show the most intricate process of the papermaking in Fuyang.

There are some precious and rare artworks on display. “The Past and Present Thunder Peak Pagodas” is one of these ingenious works of art. As a double-side embroidery masterwork， it shows the first pagoda (997-1924) on one side and the new structure built in 2002 on the other side. Insiders say this is the most representative of double-side embroidery. “Hide and Seek” is a porcelain artwork portraying two toddlers playing a hide and seek game. This highly enjoyable work was created by Guo Linshan and Ji Xigui， a partnership of wife and husband， who are both national masters of arts and crafts. A teakettle， carved by Xu Weijun in 2011， is a stone carving masterpiece. It is in dark brown color and decorated with plum flowers made in jade.

The museum also gives young artisans an opportunity to seek their inspirations. Huang Chunhua now works as disciple learning how to make pyrography on silk under the guidance of Master Yan Guihai. She works in her master’s studio on the second floor. There are some other young artisans working there. They are the hope of the future of traditional arts and crafts of the city.