A boy watches international student Barbora Sloupova make a traditional folk handicraft item yesterday. Wang Jingli
A dozen of international students from Shenzhen University’s College of International Exchange were invited to experience folk arts at Shenzhen Museum’s ancient art gallery in Futian District yesterday afternoon.
Chinese artists showcased traditional Chinese arts and national intangible cultural heritages including engraved pieces, ancient wooden architecture artworks, filigree inlay art, bead embroidery and pyrographs on the site.
Intrigued by traditional arts, international students tried their hands on them. “I can feel the artists’ passion from their works,” said Barbora Sloupova from the Czech Republic after seeing a bead-embroidered fan.
“You have to put one hand under the fabric and the other above, so it is not easy at first to stitch these beads. Luckily, I gradually got the hang of it after several tries. Bead embroidery is really beautiful,” Sloupova said while trying bead embroidery.
Bead embroidery uses a needle and thread to stitch beads to fabric, suede or leather surfaces.
Another international student, Hansol Park from South Korea, was seen piecing different wooden block shapes together to form a complete ancient Chinese wooden architecture model on the site yesterday afternoon.
She said the finished work looked simple, but the process was complicated. “I really enjoyed it as I was focused on playing with these wooden blocks to make architecture,” Park said.
The activity was part of Shenzhen Folk Culture Week which opened Nov. 3 and will run through Nov. 26. A total of 21 events will be held in seven subvenues across the city during the folk culture week.
Guided by the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association and Guangdong Folk Literature and Art Association, Shenzhen Folk Culture Week is being held by the Shenzhen Federation of Literary and Art Circles.