Experts From Home And Abroad Gathered In Chuxiong, Yunnan, The "City Of Yi Embroidery", To Offer Advice For Intangible Cultural Heritage To Embrace Fashion

"At present, many intangible cultural heritage elements in East Asia, such as traditional textiles and embroidery, are facing the risk of disappearing gradually. By combining intangible cultural heritage with fashion, we have the opportunity to revitalize them and attract consumers while preserving their cultural significance," said Yang Bixing, head of the Culture Department of the UNESCO East Asia Regional Office on the 13th.

On February 13, intangible cultural heritage was integrated into the contemporary fashion design partner meeting. Photographed by China News Network reporter Li Jiaxian

On the same day, the Partners Conference on Integrating Intangible Cultural Heritage into Contemporary Fashion Design, co sponsored by the People's Government of Chuxiong Prefecture and the UNESCO East Asia Regional Office, was held in Chuxiong City, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Representatives of fashion and design institutions, experts and scholars from Japan, South Korea, Mongolia and other countries gathered together to have a dialogue around the four dimensions of "intangible heritage heritage protection, fashion empowerment, regional cooperation, and sustainable development".

Chuxiong is one of the two Yi Autonomous Prefectures in China. It has four world-class business cards: the hometown of dinosaurs in the world, the hometown of oriental humans, the kingdom of wild fungi in the world, and the hometown of green peacocks in China. At the same time, it is also the "City of Yi Embroidery" of inheritance and innovation, and the "Holy Land of Costume Competition" of beauty and common. In recent years, relying on the cultural resources of the Yongren Zhiju Yi race dress festival, which has a history of more than 1350 years, the prefecture has built a cultural brand of "Chuxiong Fashion Week", and combined race dress, fashion and Yi embroidery to make Yi embroidery fashion popular in Shanghai, Beijing, Milan, Paris and other fashion shows at home and abroad.

On February 13, Chuxiong Yi embroidery was displayed at the conference site. Photographed by China News Network reporter Li Jiaxian

In order to deepen the interconnection between intangible cultural heritage and creative industries in East Asia, UNESCO launched the "Intangible Cultural Heritage and Fashion" project, which is to build a platform for traditional craftsmen, fashion majors and independent fashion designers through capacity building, mentoring, resource connectivity and other initiatives, Explore new possibilities for cooperation between intangible cultural heritage and fashion. This meeting is the first meeting of the project in China.

"I hope this conference can provide a variety of cultural and creative inspiration for the fashion industry, so that intangible cultural heritage can be effectively inherited and sustainable development," said Xia Zehan, director of the UNESCO East Asia Regional Office.

"As a participant, we are very willing to join the project of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage and Fashion'." Pan Jin, professor of Donghua University and executive deputy secretary-general of Shanghai Creative City Promotion Office, said that she hopes that in the future, intangible heritage and fashion can be better presented and integrated through business integration, training courses, brand cooperation and other forms.

Hiroko Iimura, creative director of Japan Creative Association, said, "While protecting intangible cultural heritage, we hope to strengthen communication and contact with more domestic and foreign industry partners. By establishing long-term cooperation, we can help the sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage."

"This meeting is a strong support for the protection and inheritance of Chuxiong intangible cultural heritage." Zhang Wenwang, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Chuxiong Prefecture Committee and Governor of the People's Government of Chuxiong Prefecture, delivered a speech, hoping that everyone will work together with Chuxiong to explore a new path for the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage and truly realize the living inheritance and protection of intangible cultural heritage.

During the event, a series of activities were also carried out, including academic exchanges, keynote speeches, field visits to intangible cultural heritage, display of Yi embroidery fashion design achievements, and experience of folk activities in the costume festival.

(Source: China News Network)