The Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA’s) show, East/West Batik and Beyond: Communities of Women, Craft and Survival, focuses primarily on batik work inspired by Maio women from Paimo Village in China. The exhibit combines traditional batik with modern fashion, explores dynamics between East and West, and reflects on the role of cultural traditions and economic sustainability, especially from the viewpoint of women.
Surface design artist Jieyi Zhou and fashion designer Cheng Hao have been working with traditional batik artists from Danzhai County, China. The Miao ethnic minority group span throughout China and Southeast Asia — but because of their relative geographic isolation, those in China have traditions that are unique and have persisted for possibly two-thousand years. Miao batik is now considered an “intangible cultural heritage” in China. Women are the key artists, with girls learning to use the canting tools (“ladao”) to apply wax for the design beginning around age 7 or 8-years-old. The fabric is then dyed with multiple trips to indigo vats, which help them acquire different shades of blue.
While some other batik traditions are multicolored, such as those from Indonesia, those from the Miao tradition are confined to the use of indigo. Zhou, who love the indigo vats, comments, “The indigo vats are alive; they are alive like a person. They have to be fed, and they need rest.”
The CoCA exhibit includes dresses which are a reflection of teamwork with the Miao cultural inheritors making the batik, surface designs by Zhou, and fashion design is by Hao. Zhou has also had the opportunity to work with Erlang Yang, a cultural inheritor of batik traditions who has shared her talent and experience with Zhou.
Many bird images and the concept of migration can be seen within the dresses. Another intriguing design element includes nüshu, a women’s-only syllabic script that developed by ethnic Yao women in Hunan province.
In addition to the dresses which were part of Beijing International Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, Zhou has a series of banners inspired by both the Western and Eastern Zodiac. They reflect Zhou’s personal experiences after spending many years to Seattle and now living in China. They were inspired by the times when one meets someone new and asks, “What sign are you?”
Photographer Lanny Li’s photographs of the Miao village women are also part of the exhibit, and come paired with recordings of the women singing while they worked. The use of these recordings in the gallery provides an immersive experience that transport gallery visitors into another space. As the Miao traditionally did not have a written language, their songs are an important way to transmit their history to fuure generations.
How can these traditions be carried forward? In 2009, Manli Ning decided to actively do something about it by founding Ninghang Batik. Through the company, local women were able to continue working in their traditional artform, to care for their children when they needed, and to be in an environment where their children could be educated.
Demand for Maio batik has declined over time, as the Miao now wear Western clothing on a day-to-day basis and use traditional batiks only for celebrations and special occasions. However,Ninghang Batik now employs 200 women. It offers batik workshops and has a store to sustain the community of cultural tradition bearers, or cultural inheritors. As tourism is becoming more important for the region, the traditional women’s art is attracting attention, can promote jobs, and gives the women a greater voice in the economic vitality of the area.
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East/West Batik and Beyond: Communities of Women, Craft and Survival runs through July 27 at the Center for Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood.
