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Folk artists display their achievements in reviving traditional crafts at the Sixth China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo in Jinan, Shandong province. The expo also shows how these time-honored crafts help people in rural areas to fight against poverty.[Photo by Zhao Ruixue/China Daily] |
Traditional handicrafts are getting a new life through poverty-reduction programs in China. The Sixth China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo kicked off on Oct 23 in Jinan, East China's Shandong province, showcasing information about 46 poverty-alleviation projects that used intangible cultural heritage and 84 heritage items from across China.
Dressed in clothing bearing horsetail embroidery, Song Shuixian, a national-level inheritor of the intangible heritage of Sandu county in Southwest China's Guizhou province, promoted such embroidered products at the expo.
Horsetail embroidery uses horse hair and silk thread as raw material. The skill of weaving horse hair with thread and sewing traditional patterns has been passed down for generations by the Shui ethnic group in Guizhou.
"In the past, the embroidery appeared on small garments such as aprons, but now we put them on daily clothes, handbags and notebooks to increase the embroidery's commercial value and meet consumers' demand," Song says.
The 54-year-old ethnic Shui woman started learning horsetail embroidery from her mother as a child. Since then, she has dedicated herself to protecting and promoting the handicraft.
Following her suggestion, a center for protecting and inheriting horsetail embroidery was founded in Sandu last year.
"Now we have a better place to train more women in the skills of horsetail embroidery, and many of them are in their 20s and 30s," Song says.
To date, more than 1,000 women have been trained there, helping around 300 families overcome poverty.
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The 15th Chinese Film Festival in Bangkok and the 2020 China-Thailand Film Exchange Week opens at the China Cultural Center in Bangkok on Oct 25, 2020. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
On Oct 25, the opening ceremony of the 15th Chinese Film Festival in Bangkok and the 2020 China-Thailand Film Exchange Week was held at the China Cultural Center in Bangkok. The event was hosted by the China Cultural Center in Bangkok and received strong support from the Chinese Embassy in Thailand and the Thai Ministry of Culture.
The COVID-19 pandemic doesn't impede the enthusiasm for cultural exchange between China and Thailand. This film festival uses live broadcast to present the opening ceremony and host the "China-Thailand Film Exchange and Cooperation Online Seminar". During the film festival, audiences can use the online platform of the China Cultural Center in Bangkok to watch films online, which greatly increases the global reach of the festival.
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Gu Hongxing, director of the China Cultural Center in Bangkok and China Tourism Office in Bangkok, speaks at the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
Gu Hongxing, director of Bangkok's China Cultural Center and China Tourism Office, said film can not only introduce one's national culture, but also reflect unique social landscapes. Film has become an important part of cultural exchange between countries and enhance mutual understanding among people around the world.
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Yang Xin, Chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, speaks at the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
Yang Xin, Chargé d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, said since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Thailand 45 years ago, the mutual trust between the two countries has continued to deepen, economic and trade cooperation has expanded, cultural exchanges have become closer, and all-around cooperation has achieved fruitful results. Both China and Thailand have a vast film market. As a traditional project of cultural exchanges between China and Thailand, the Bangkok Chinese Film Festival has laid a solid foundation for film cooperation between the two countries for 15 years and will add new drive to the promotion of cultural exchanges and cooperation between China and Thailand.
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Itthiphol Kunplome, Thailand's minister of culture, speaks at the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to Chinaculture.org] |
Thailand's Minister of Culture Itthiphol Kunplome said in his speech the governments and people of Thailand and China have been in constant exchange. Cooperation in various fields has developed steadily, and the film festival is another important event to further promote cultural exchanges between the two countries. The people of the two countries can promote their understanding of the cultures of both sides through films, and promote friendly relations and cooperation in other perspectives.
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