Heritage enlivened
It may be difficult to take one's eyes off a dazzling coronet on show at the Chinese Traditional Culture Museum in Beijing. Not an ornament once adorning some imperial figure, it is a modern one made by Ma Yajing, an artist who has been carrying on the filigree inlaid metal art (huasi xiangqian) in Tianjin. Her fine work integrates the intricacy of the technique, enameling and precious stones inlaying. Her artistic skills were enhanced by her brief stint at Beijing Arts and Crafts Technician College.
Ma and many artisans across the country have benefited from a national project, launched in 2015, to involve universities, colleges and professional schools in the protection of cultural heritage and to support the upskilling of inheritors. The achievements of this decade-long endeavor are celebrated at New Lives of Intangible Cultural Heritage, where Ma's coronet and the works of artisans involved in the project are on show, until Aug 31.
The exhibition shows that more than 200,000 artisans nationwide have received training at over 200 schools over the past 10 years. The mind-opening program inspires them to reform, create, and summarize, by which they are able to revitalize the arts and crafts to which they have dedicated their lives.
9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. 16 Hujing Dong Lu, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-8799-1766.
