From Texts to Threads: Notes from Nanjing

Nanjing (Figure 1) is the capital of the Jiangsu province that has a population of nearly 10 million people and a long history. One of the ancient Chinese capitals, it became the capital city of the Republic of China in 1912 after the Xinhai Revolution ended the last imperial Qing dynasty. Turbulent times followed that culminated in the Japanese invasion of the city in 1937. What is known today as the Nanjing massacre which resulted in the death of some 300,000 people by the Japanese army. It is remembered by a sizeable memorial site that solemnly recalls the atrocities and the victims (Figure 2). Contemporary Nanjing is a metropolis with busy life that isboth high tech and low tech; electric cars drive next to traditional tuk-tuks and nothing happens without a smartphone.

The University of the Arts (Figure 3), which hosted me, is one of many higher education institutions that specialises in teaching the visual and performing arts. My introduction to Chinese higher education came with a bang on the first night when I attended the final student show, a bombastic medley of songs, dances and fashion shows that put the skills students gained during their studies on stage. The next day, I could also visit the graduation show consisting of the final projects in fine art, studio craft, industrial design, illustration, and many other fields taught at the University (Figure 4).

The main goal of my visit, however, was to take part in the conference on Cross-Disciplinary Journal Editing (Figure 5). The University currently publishes a Chinese language journal on art and design but wants to set up an English mutation (Figure 6). An exchange of ideas and experience in editing and publishing was therefore the basis of the conference and the following discussions (Figure 7). There was a lot of common ground across various academic and publishing cultures brought together here, that included questions of how to index journals in databases, handle the peer-review process, or how to formulate arguments in articles that go beyond a mere presentation of facts. Inevitably, AI appeared as a hot topic. How does current publishing reflect the use of AI by authors? How can it be used critically to enhance the writing process in various languages? And how can publishers benefit from various AI tools?  

Apart from these debates, I also delivered a session for students focusing on folk art and craft, that was drawn from my current research of folk art (Figure 8). While my focus is primarily on Central Europe, with the graduate and postgraduate students we could identify many familiar issues. This included topics like the impact of modernisation and industrialisation on craft practices, the place of heritage in contemporary society, and thinking of crafting techniques, for instance lacemaking, as a global practice.  

One of the cities on the Silk Roads, Nanjing has a long history linked to textiles industries and I could explore that too during my visit. The Brocade Museum (Figures 9 & 10), for instance, showcases the tradition of making expensive brocade with elaborate designs. The origins of the so-called Nanjing Yunjin brocade date back to the 5th century (Figures 11). The craft is still practiced (and demonstrated) in the museum by crafts people who sit at enormous wooden looms and create the fabrics . They produce a few centimetres of brocade a day. Inclusion of practical craft production is characteristic for the way heritage is kept in museums here. The Museum of Intangible Folk Culture, for instance, houses not only display of craft from various regions and accordingly themed rooms. It also gives space to crafters who occupy their designated compartments and carry out their respective craft (Figures 12 & 13). Their work, as well as many other items around the museum, are also available for sale, but it is really the practice of making that is attractive. Visitors can also try out some of the traditional techniques under guidance; my colleagues and I joined in one of these creative activities too and made fabric brooches with various levels of success (Figure 14).

We also ventured outside of Nanjing, to a village near forests where once timber miners used to live. Nowadays, it is a popular destination for day trips, if for the gardenias that are grown there or for glamping and wedding parties (Figure 15). The Xiangtang village is also a home of a gallery and artists, like Wang Kezhen whose studio we were invited to visit (Figure 16). Wang Kezhen works in metal and silver; his signature pieces consist of grains of rice composed into a shape of a bowl. From there, it is a short drive to Sifang Art Museum, a contemporary art space built by Steven Holl (Figure 17) that sits on top of a hill overlooking a resort of buildings in the Sifang park. Built since 2003 by a local businessman, the variety of hotels, villas and prototypes by the likes of Wang Shu (Figure 18), David Adjaye and, maybe surprisingly, Ai Weiwei. This is really an exhibition site of contemporary architecture, albeit hidden away from hordes of visitors.

I know I only scratched the surface of the local art, culture and history. For someone interested in craft, the survival of traditional artistic forms and their relation to the formation of identity, Nanjing is a great gateway to expanding the horizons in these areas.