"When people saw the exhibited works, many gave a thumbs-up. Westerners are very open and straightforward in expressing their emotions. When they learned that I was the creator of the works, some even knelt down in front of me, wanting to see and touch my hands. They said that only the gesture of 'kneeling' could show their respect for this lofty art—they couldn't believe what kind of hands could create such masterpieces," Yao Huifen, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage (Su Embroidery), said excitedly when talking about her experience at the 57th Venice International Art Biennale. This marked the first time that Su Embroidery, a traditional folk craft, had entered an international art hall of such high caliber.
Behind all these praises and exclamations, however, lies the wisdom and hard work of 48 embroiderers from Qinfen Embroidery Workshop. They had to complete 34 exhibited works within 3 months, working nearly 20 hours a day, while also facing the impact of new concepts and ideas in contemporary art.
"The entire creative process was extremely painful and torturous," it is surprising that Yao Huifen and her sister Yao Huiqin would sum up the preparation process for the Biennale works in such a way. Centered on the theme "Unceasing" of the China Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, curator Qiu Zhijie chose to collaborate with two representatives of folk art—Su Embroidery master Yao Huifen and shadow puppet master Wang Tianwen—and two contemporary artists, Wu Jian'an and Tang Nannan. In the integration of traditional folk art and contemporary art, conflicts and problems are inevitable. These conflicts arise not only from differences in artistic forms but also from disparities in thinking modes.
"We collaborated with contemporary artist Mr. Wu Jian'an for the first time and led the embroidery team to create these works. Although we still used traditional themes and ancient stitching techniques, the creative concept was completely different from the simple replication we did before. Mr. Wu had subversive requirements for traditional Su Embroidery, which I found hard to accept at first. His creative concept was incompatible with the habits I had developed over decades of embroidery, so I was filled with anxiety at the beginning," Yao Huifen recalled with emotion.
Excluding the random stitching technique, there are a total of 40 to 50 traditional stitching techniques in Su Embroidery, and only 3 to 5 of them are used in a single traditional work. However, Wu Jian'an required Yao Huifen's team to apply all conceivable traditional stitching techniques in one single work, and the different stitching techniques at the edges of local parts must be contrasting. This was undoubtedly a great challenge for Yao Huifen and her team.
"The combination of different stitching techniques requires that the edges of each local part be contrasting and contradictory—unlike traditional Su Embroidery, which emphasizes softness and visual comfort. Mr. Wu demanded that each work use more than 50 stitching techniques, with every local part being extremely exquisite yet using completely different stitches. We almost exhausted all the stitching techniques we knew," Yao Huifen said.
Traditional Chinese culture advocates the concept of "harmony in diversity," but the works co-created with Wu Jian'an aimed to embody the idea of "unity amid differences." "The works are intended to reflect the current social situation. Each local part of the work corresponds to an individual in modern society—everyone has their own personality and characteristics, yet they are all integrated into the society. In this sense, the works conform to the aesthetic needs and tastes of people today," Yao Huifen explained. This characteristic is vividly reflected in works such as Jingwei Filling the Sea Series and Ma Yuan's Water Series embroidered by Yao Huifen.
"From passive acceptance at the beginning to active thinking later, we went through the torture and confusion of conceptual collisions. There were times when we picked up the needle and thread but didn't know where to start. We groped forward with difficulty amid anxiety and pain. However, as the works gradually took shape, we became more and more confident and composed. We discussed stitching techniques together and studied how to present each local part. We grew excited, witnessing the subversive innovation of Su Embroidery and the release of its vitality once again," Yao Huiqin could hardly contain her joy when talking about this process.
"Our minds have been opened—by changing our thinking and subverting our concepts, we have seen that Su Embroidery, as an intangible cultural heritage, has boundless room for development and exploration. This attempt was undoubtedly a breakthrough for our entire team, expanding our future creative directions and techniques," they said.
"In the past, we tried to innovate Su Embroidery through themes, but we never thought about innovating from stitching techniques. This time, we took the opposite approach: we revived traditional stitching techniques, integrated the stitches once used for making daily necessities into the creation of artworks, and drew inspiration from daily life. This can be described as the return and re-innovation of traditional stitching techniques. What surprised us most was the great vitality exerted by these traditional techniques, which also made us more aware of the profound heritage and rich connotation of traditional Su Embroidery skills," Yao Huifen and Yao Huiqin stated.
"Innovation" is a natural outcome, but it must be based on years of persistence at the embroidery frame. Empty talks about innovation without in-depth understanding will never stand the test of time. When skills and concepts accumulate to a certain extent, a qualitative leap will happen naturally. Just as "brushwork should keep pace with the times," embroidery should also adapt to the times. "Traditional embroidery is constantly developing rather than remaining unchanged. Its enlightenment for the future is just like the enlightenment history has given us: Su Embroidery has experienced downturns in the past, but witnessed the emergence of random stitching techniques and a revival in the 1930s. This confirms an old Chinese saying: 'When the cart reaches the mountain, a road will appear; when the boat arrives at the bridge, it will straighten itself out,'" Yao Huifen and Yao Huiqin concluded.
Initially, when Wu Jian'an visited Qinfen Embroidery Workshop and saw the works created by the embroiderers and their working conditions, he didn't have any special feelings. However, by chance, he came across a Su Embroidery pattern book in the workshop. At that moment, he seemed to find the source of his creative inspiration: in his eyes, every stitching technique became a magic tool to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, which immediately initiated this collaboration and the subversive innovation of Su Embroidery techniques. Yao Huifen said, "It feels like a thread is leading us to move forward together with contemporary artists represented by Mr. Wu, allowing Su Embroidery to unleash its creativity in the context of contemporary art, and at the same time enabling contemporary art concepts to find a home in traditional techniques."
Yao Huifen is well aware that for Su Embroidery, an intangible cultural heritage, to be inherited and carried forward, it is in urgent need of young people to inject new vitality. "The average age of the embroiderers who created the Biennale works this time is between 45 and 55. They have honed their skills over decades by sitting patiently at the embroidery frame, stitch by stitch. Although the Biennale has shown us the potential and room for the development of Su Embroidery, we also realize that the inheritors of this traditional craft are aging—their energy and physical condition are on the decline, while young people are unable to inject new vitality into it. This unsolvable contradiction is what worries and troubles me the most now," Yao Huifen said.
"Finding outstanding successors and inheritors depends on fate. Only those who have a genuine passion from the bottom of their hearts can endure loneliness and sit patiently at the embroidery frame for years," Yao Huifen expressed her concern about this. As a representative inheritor of Su Embroidery, she is deeply aware of her responsibility and mission. Therefore, she has been actively engaged in training sessions at intangible cultural heritage classes in colleges and universities across the country. When teaching embroidery techniques to students, Yao Huifen adopts an open and inclusive attitude, encouraging them to preserve the unique characteristics, elements, and styles of their own ethnic groups. She guides them to improve their originally rough techniques by learning the delicate stitching of Su Embroidery and then integrate the unique artistic language of their ethnic groups. In fact, this is another path for Su Embroidery to regain its vitality—just as the theme of the China Pavilion at this Venice Biennale goes—"Unceasing."
