Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    SCROLLS of famous ancient Chinese landscape paintings, portraits of American film star Marilyn Monroe and home accessories all took on different looks over the weekend through traditional paper-cutting art displayed in Hall 4 of the 9th China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF), alongside other intangible cultural heritage items.

    Representative traditional artworks, such as the painting “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains,” originally created by Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) painter Huang Gongwang; “Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival,” originally by Song Dynasty (960-1279) painter Zhang Zeduan; and “Orchid Pavilion,” originally by Jin Dynasty (265-420) calligrapher Wang Xizhi, were recreated as handmade paper-cuttings in their original sizes.

    Multilayered paper-cutting can give paintings a flattering, textured look that’s much different from one-dimensional expression.

    Paper-cutting, also known as engraved paper, is one of the traditional folk decorative arts. He Hong, a third-generation descendant of the He family paper-cutting handicraft that originated in Ji’an City in Jiangxi Province, said multilayer paper-cutting has little difference in technique from other paper-cutting styles, but recreates traditional paper-cuttings in a fashionable way.

    New technologies have allowed the art to be applied to other materials, as well, such as acrylics, cloths and even steel, with the aid of lasers.

    He said she’s trying to save the endangered heritage by combining it with modern elements of daily life.

    “I found that few people liked to learn paper-cutting several years ago, when I was teaching it,” He said. “So I wondered if I could make it attractive to people as a popular commodity that could create economic profit as well as preserve the artistic wealth of our ancestors.”

    A multilayer paper-cutting of a painting that’s originally 8 meters long would take five artists more than 20 days to complete, from cutting papers to using dyes and, finally, framing.

    He said monochrome paper-cuttings with rice paper can be preserved for about 1,000 years, but colored paper-cuttings can fade with time. He said she was researching ways to preserve colors through technology. He’s company is the first intangible cultural heritage organization in China to be certified with international standards. It has registered copyrights and quality reports for all its works.