China's Intangible Cultural Heritage Craftsman 6: Shujing Studio

The world-famous Shu Brocade and Embroidery are known far and wide as some of Sichuan's most prized treasures. Shu Embroidery, one of the oldest types of embroidery in China, is famous for its unique stitching and embroidery techniques. Today, there are ever more possibilities to combine Shu Embroidery and fashion. Zhong Ming, founder of Shujing Studio, has applied AI technology to endow the traditional culture of this intangible cultural heritage with renewed vitality.

Zhong Ming told us: "I have been keeping a close eye on the archaeological process at the Sanxingdui site, and silk residues found in the Sanxingdui site are of great significance to us." In addition, Zhong Ming pointed out that due to the damp underground in Chengdu, silk fabrics easily sufferedfrom weathering and so were difficult to preserve for a very long time. Demonstrations of Sanxingdui's concrete objects has expanded the silk fabrics' influence, and archaeological discoveries couldfurther complete our understanding of the origin and development of Shu Brocade.

When referring to the colourused in there-creation work for 'Colourful Sanxingdui', Zhong Ming said: "Red is the most traditional and influential colourin the history of Shu Brocade". Zhong Ming told us that since the water of the Jin Jiang River came from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, its mineral content was different from other water sources, and the water was rich in certain metal particles. If the woven Shu brocade was rinsed in the Jin Jiang River and underwent a secondary reaction, its colourwould become more vivid.

Moreover, Sanxingdui has brought new inspiration to Zhong Ming in the creation of Shu Brocade and Embroidery. The new combination of brocade and embroidery with AI allows such pieces to be more modern and fashionable, and so he therefore chose to base his re-creation project on the Sanxingdui bird head, that has contained the element of fashion for thousands of years. He used a kind of deformed brocade base that was shot by new AI brocade and embroiderytechniques and had the same form as lotus, lotus leaves, and water patterns. "I heard that Sanxingdui may have been a water city in the past, and this bird head resembles a legendary fish mallard, so this combination is very suitable." Zhong Ming said, sharing hisdesign idea with us.

Zhong Ming hopes to exhibit the charm of Sanxingdui in the form of silk, and plans to make more attempts to apply the shapes and decorative patterns of Sanxingdui cultural relics to modern designs. In this way, his designsareable tohelp Sanxingdui live anew and show off its vigorous vitality, attractingmore and more people with its bright and vivid artistic glamour.