When you open a pop-up book, the characters and landscapes in the story literally pop up in front of you. A students’ society in the No. 2 Middle School in Guangming District has chosen pop-up books to be their pursuit, and endeavor to turn their own stories into pop-up books.

The society is named “Zhituan,” which is the short form of the Chinese words meaning “a paper fun society,” explained instructor Liu Yangyang. First founded in September 2018, the society had explored multiple forms of paper art, from the traditional paper cutting to paper sculpture and collages, before the members finally fixed their eyes on pop-up books.

Liu has always been fascinated with paper, a material with an immense possibility for artistic expression, when approached with various tools. “In my childhood I loved cutting and making paper into different things. I created lots of artworks out of paper during my undergraduate years and focused my master’s degree thesis on the teaching of paper art. In my current job, I tutor students on paper art,” she said.

The inspiration for choosing pop-up books as their pursuit came from Liu’s favorite architect, Zeng Renzhen, whose paintings depict little human figures roaming in natural landscapes. “Each time I look at his paintings, I feel intrigued by those little figures and wish I could jump into the painting to join them,” Liu said. Thinking her students would also like the paintings, Liu tried to make new creations based on the works. Finally, she thought of pop-up books.

In September 2020, the paper art society got its official name “Zhituan” and began to focus on pop-up books. The first 11 students met a lot of difficulties because the majority lacked trainings in fine arts; Liu herself also had her hurdles exploring an entirely new art form. “I was learning myself as I taught my students,” she said. “In retrospect, my teaching at that time lacked a systematic, progressive syllabus.”

After more than a one-year startup period, Liu gradually accumulated some knowhow in making pop-up books, acquainted herself with other teachers, attended exhibitions of pop-up books and joined an online exchange group with the shared interest of making pop-up books.

In September last year, the Zhituan society welcomed its second batch of members, who were given systematic instruction on the structures of pop-up books. Each session, the students made a pop-up card of a different structure, and by the end of the fall semester, some members had created their prototype pop-up books. Liu expects all her students to work on their own original story, design the illustrations and pop-up structure, and next semester produce complete pop-up books.

During the course of learning, the students brushed up their design skills and comprehensive creative capability, Liu said. Creating a pop-up book tests the person’s ability to observe, think, remember, imagine and express creatively, which is a great means to nurture a love for art in the young.

Liu has been rewarded for her hard work, as her report on teaching of making pop-up books won first prize at a city-level art education competition last year. But nothing is more rewarding than the amazement of her students when she opened pop-up books for her students, who, like herself, fell immediately in love with this unique form of paper art.

(Li Dan)