Dye Binding Workshop In Britain: Ten Thousand Miles From The "Pimple Cloth"
"My studio is like a stage, performing an immersive drama about tie dye and Dali for those who come," Duan Yiran said in a recent interview with China News Service.
Duan Yiran is a Bai girl from Dali, Yunnan. After graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama at the University of London in 2019, she opened a studio to teach tie dyeing locally.
Duan Yiran said that her major at school was costume design. In order to make her work stand out, she made a Victorian suit out of tie dyed cloth. The process of making dyed cloth alleviated her homesickness, and the work also attracted the teacher's attention. British people are curious about tie dye. Since she was young, she has been influenced by tie dye, so she decided to teach foreigners tie dye.
In her opinion, Bai tie dye is both remote and strange to foreigners. How can foreigners understand a handicraft of ethnic minorities from thousands of miles away?
The students are making "pimple cloth". (Courtesy of respondents)
Recalling that when she first entered the university, Duan Yiran was worried that she could not find the "connection point" with western clothing technology. "When making a waist girdle or a skirt, I don't understand why it is designed this way." She took the Victorian skirt as an example. She didn't understand the meaning of totems and red patterns on the skirt, but just did it according to the textbook. After learning the history of cultural exchanges between China and Britain at that time and the oriental image contained in skirt totems, she felt that she was closer to these totems.
Foreigners also need such a "connection point" to contact the handicrafts of other nationalities. To this end, Duan Yiran learned about tie dyeing in different countries, and told students about the connection in class. For example, the United Kingdom also grows bluegrass, but the variety and planting method are different from those of China; The contents of the dyeing vat of the Bai nationality are made of rice wine, etc., while in Britain, white sugar is mixed with other materials. "I compare the making of a dye vat to frying a dish. Students listen with interest to the different raw materials used in different countries."
For Duan Yiran, learning tie dyeing from other countries helped her understand the uniqueness of Bai tie dyeing. The horse gang culture with a long history and the Bai people's respect for nature are reflected in the tie dye totem. Students are also keen to guess the meaning of totems, such as why horse teeth are often associated with copper coins, why butterfly totems are "regular visitors" of Bai tie dye, etc.
Duan Yiran has received many interviews since she started her business five years ago. The most frequently asked question is "Is it difficult for foreigners to understand minority culture?". She believes that all kinds of handicrafts have something in common. When the experimenter pinches the needle and thread, he or she already has feelings in his or her heart, which may be an opportunity for communication and understanding.
Duan Yiran took a group photo with students in front of tie dye works. (Courtesy of respondents)
Duan Yiran said that once an Indian teacher from London University of the Arts came to see her in class, and they talked about the past while sewing patterns. The teacher's mother passed away recently, and there is a traditional Indian dress sari made by her mother at home. When he sewed patterns needle by needle in class, he constantly recalled the scene of his mother weaving sari in his mind, and his admiration for his mother came into being. He also wants to know how female elders of other nationalities make traditional costumes. Later, the teacher took Sari to the studio to discuss the similarities and differences of the clothing technology between the two countries with Duan Yiran, and understand the story of Bai women doing tie dyeing.
This experience became Duan Yiran's reason to "persuade" her grandmother. Grandma often asked her, five generations of her family have been making "pimple cloth" (Bai people call tie dye "pimple cloth"), what kind of tricks can she make in Britain? Duan Yiran told her grandmother that her work can help foreigners understand Bai culture and also provide them with the opportunity to tell their own national cultural stories. She "moved" the open and diversified Dali to London and "archived" the humanistic stories of various places.
At the end of March this year, Duan Yiran took foreign students to her hometown to do tie dyeing and learn embroidery together with Ah Nai of Bai nationality. Duan Yiran said that she regarded the five years' work as the process of building the bridge, which was the first project after the bridge was built. She is also preparing other projects to give Chinese and British craftsmen more opportunities to communicate.
(Source: China News Network)
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