Connecting Threads

HONG KONG DESIGN STUDIO FABRICK LAB IS HELPING TO CONNECT GUIZHOU VILLAGERS – AND THEIR HERITAGE CRAFTS – WITH THE MODERN CONSUMER MARKET

- Sophie Kalkreuth

When consumers pick up a handmade scarf created by villagers in Guizhou Province, they will likely note the quality of the hand-woven material, the rich colors of the indigo dyes, and intricate batik patterns. What they may not realize, however, is that it takes a highly skilled artisan around 60 hours and generations of know-how to make.

Telling this story – and raising awareness about the core value of making – is part of the mission behind Un/fold, a project launched by Hong Kong studio The Fabrick Lab that is bringing handmade artisan goods to the luxury market.

Reality Bites

When designer and Fabrick Lab founder Ms. Elaine Ng first visited the remote village of Jiao Xi Liang in a remote part of Guizhou, she did not find the artisan dreamland shown in tourist brochures. “A lot of people have this very idealized vision of the village as beautiful and tranquil where people sit and sew.” In reality, she says, most of the villagers have left to work in factories.

More than a third of Guizhou’s 35 million residents are from ethnic groups including the Shui, Miao, Dong and other tribes known for their skills with batik, embroidery, woodwork and paper cutting. But in recent years, as villagers have increasingly left for better paying jobs in cities, local populations have shrunk, and folk art traditions are no longer being passed on to the next generation. A dwindling number of inhabitants also means the market for artisan goods is small and local. “Most villagers just sell to their neighbors,” says Ms. Ng. “The ecosystem is not complete.”