Save the date for the first Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale

By Zhao Zihan

On of October 24th， 2018 Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale Press Conference was held in Beijing. Sun Huaibin， Vice President of China National Textile and Apparel Council （CNTAC）， Yu Hongchun， Vice Mayor of Chaozhou Municipal Peoples Government， Li Dangqi， Dean of China Embroidery Art Research Institute of CNTAC， Lin Lecheng， Doctoral Supervisor of Academy of Fine Arts，Tsinghua University， Qi Chunying， Director of Institute of National Costumes， Minzu University of China， Li Qiong， Director of Chaozhou Municipal Bureau of Culture， Radio， TV， Film， Press and Publication， Cai Minqiang， President of Guangdong FAMORY Group， and more than 50 representatives of the news media attended the press conference. The press conference was moderated by Zhang Jiazhou， Director of CNTAC Intangible Cultural Heritage Office， and the stationmaster of CNTAC Chaozhou Traditional Craft Workstation.

“2018 Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale” was approved by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China， guided by CNTAC and Chaozhou Municipal Bureau of Culture， Radio， TV， Film， Press and Publication， sponsored by CNTAC Chaozhou Traditional Craft Workstation， and co-organized by the Institute of Fiber Art of the Academy of Fine Arts，Tsinghua University， Chaozhou FAMORY Embroidery Art Research Institute， and Guangdong FAMORY （Group） Co.， Ltd. It is the first national and international biennale focusing on embroidery art. The Biennale is held for the implementation of the “China Traditional Crafts Revitalization Plan” as well as the specific goals and tasks of CNTAC Chaozhou Traditional Craft Workstation， in order to promote the research and protection of intangible cultural heritage， revitalize and develop traditional embroidery techniques， enrich excellent culture， and advance international exchanges.

It is introduced that the Biennale will be exhibited in Chaozhou City， Guangdong Province from December 20th， 2018 to January 5th， 2019， with the theme of “Embroidery and Contemporary Life”. CNTAC Chaozhou Traditional Craft Workstation， together with the various authoritative organizations， organized the International Embroidery Art Biennale starting from the revitalization of traditional embroidery techniques. It aims to further explore the value connotation of the excellent traditional Chinese culture of embroidery， stimulate the vitality of traditional crafts， and show the world the unique value and infinite charm of tradition-al Chinese embroidery skills through open interaction and communication of domestic and foreign embroidery artists.

At the press conference， Sun Huaibin said in his speech that “thanks to the trust of the leaders of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism， we have the opportunity to try organizing the Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale， which is a good opportunity for the revitalization of traditional textiles craft represented by embroidery and also an important opportunity for the embroidery industry at home and abroad to learn from each other.” It is hoped that the Biennale will be a professional， largescale and international exhibition， and provide a stage for the people who are interested in embroidery study and creation at home and abroad to display their talents， effectively promoting the intangible cultural heritage to come into the contemporary public life and integrate into the international fashion trend. It will provide new thinking and new ideas for embroidery creation， make traditional skills find new soil and make the embroidery works more contemporary and artistic， and enhance the application of embroidery art in household items， daily necessities and cultural and creative products， which can truly inherit and develop the traditional embroidery techniques of textiles in China.

The Biennale was strongly supported and highly valued by the Chaozhou Municipal Government. Yu Hongchun attended the conference and delivered a speech. She said that this exhibition will give Chaozhou Ancient City its special humanistic significance and also present various intangible cultural heritage projects of Chaozhou in the vision of people at home and abroad. China is the country with the most embroidery workers and the most abundant embroidery products in the world today. Up to now， in the national intangible cultural heritage projects that have been announced in China， there are more than 30 kinds of embroidery art including the “Four Famous Embroidery” of Su， Shu， Yue and Xiang， but there is a lack of intercommunication and academic exchanges of technology in the promotion of art. CNTAC Chaozhou Traditional Craft Workstation not only promoted the rejuvenation of traditional embroidery crafts in Chaozhou， but also made Chaozhou a platform for promoting the exchanges between the domestic and international embroidery circles.

Li Dangqi， as the chief curator of 2018 Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale， gave a detailed introduction to the theme， content and related preparations of the Biennale at the press conference. The Biennale will be exhibited at Chaozhou Museum， Chaozhou Peoples Square Cultural Corridor and China Embroidery Art Research Institute of CNTAC. The exhibit categories include embroidery art works， embroidery daily necessities， and embroidery cultural and creative products. At present， the Biennale Organizing Committee has been collecting exhibits and contributions from the embroidery artists， craft masters， embroidery enthusiasts， college teachers and students through the official website of Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale and the official WeChat account， industry associations and educational institutions. It is introduced that the organizing committee has also hired well-known artists at home and abroad， embroidery inheritors and well-known scholars to form an academic expert committee to conduct preliminary examination of the works submitted for the exhibition. The organizing committee will notify the selected artists before November 18th， which will be announced on the official website of the Biennale and the official WeChat account. The selected works will be included in the “2018 Chaozhou International Embroidery Art Biennale Collection” published by China Textile Press.

The theme of the exhibition is “Embroidery and Contemporary Life”. The significance lies in inheriting and developing traditional crafts. As an important part of traditional culture， traditional crafts carry the most extensive and basic emotions and life of people of all nationalities， different countries and different countries. The traditional crafts of national embroidery have their own characteristics， which not only condenses human wisdom， emotion and imagination but also carries the deepest history and culture of the locality. At the end of the conference， Sun Huaibin， Li Dangqi， Lin Lecheng and Cai Minqiang， and Qi Chunying， respectively， as the Chairman of the organizing committee， the chief curator， the executive curators， accepted interviews from various media. They all believed that “with the joint efforts of many parties， we are full of confidence in the level of the biennial， and we are full of expectations”.