A few days ago, the China Wetland Museum “Carved Flowers Do Not Wither” – Chinese traditional wood carved panel style exhibition opened, old wood carved board objects from all over China “gathered”, telling a long-forgotten folk life story.
This exhibition displays more than 300 pieces of wood carved panels, rubbings and cultural and creative derivatives, all of which are from the collection, creation and design of Wang Xin of the China Academy of Art.
Wood carved board, referred to as “flower board”, is a kind of component used to insert and reinforce in traditional Chinese architecture, furniture and furnishings. It’s strange to say, but it’s not, maybe you’ve seen it on the carved bed at your grandmother’s house. But you know that such a small wood carving component has a rich variety of functional types, decorative styles and spiritual semantics, which are used in different positions of living environment and props, and have become an important carrier reflecting traditional Chinese folk culture.
The exhibition is divided into five chapters: auspicious spirits, world customs and folklore, opera allusions, sentiments, and impression activation. These weather-hardened flower boards and Wang Xin’s wood carving rubbing creations will be presented one by one in the exhibition. Browsing these old-fashioned boards from different regions from the Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China is like traveling through a period of history and embarking on a journey of geo-folk culture. The lady in the purdah is about to get married, and the flower board of the carved bed in the dowry is carved with flowers, birds and beasts, which means happiness and auspiciousness and early birth of noble sons; Local popular opera allusions, local craftsmen carved stories vividly on flower boards, promoting the truth, goodness and beauty in traditional morality; There are also those ancient literary and artistic young people, keen to appreciate landscapes, flowers and birds, meilanzhu chrysanthemums, Qinqi calligraphy and paintings and other elegant things, their romance and philosophy can be seen in the wood carving board.
It is worth mentioning that these old objects and old crafts, which seem to have disappeared from us, are seeking to be activated in a new art form. Teacher Wang Xin uses the ancient hand-copied technique – Chuantuo technology to innovatively present the Vientiane style on the wood carved board, and refine the pattern and semantics of the reading board into cultural and creative products such as silk scarves and notebooks through design, which can be described as the revival of old things full of literary and artistic feelings.
Quietly looking at these old wood carved panels and silently talking will definitely cause people to feel and reflect on each other. In the past, even a small flower board had to spend a lot of time, make elaborate designs, put in many processes, and then slowly appreciate it, using it year after year, generation after generation. Looking at them, it is like seeing hundreds of years of history, there are lives, feelings, and stories.
Exhibition time: April 1 to May 15, 2018, the museum is open every Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 16:30
Exhibition address: Special exhibition hall on the third floor of China Wetland Museum, No. 402 Tianmushan Road, West Lake District, Hangzhou
Admission fee: Free