students and craftsmen join forces to create contemporary straw wares
all images courtesy of ruixue song

 

 

 

sophomore students of china’s central academy of fine arts were given the opportunity to travel to shandong bo xing, a city rich with the tradition of straw braid craft. the class was given reign to explore steamed cattail, banana leaf, rattan peel, corn leaf and a variety of other natural materials. it was asked of them to keep an open mind of their surroundings, and attempt to create products that would allow users minds to drift back to the root culture and craftsmen who helped realize the pieces. the project was called, ‘the sight of things reminds one of the person’. different proposals and questions tackled issues of generational differences, and the valuing of cultures based on graphic representations. each work exhibits the transmittal of ideas by china’s up-and-coming designers to physical wares and objects by china’s most skilled artisans

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‘hotel’ stool, linjie xu

central academy of fine arts students straw wares designboom
banana leaf, nylon wire satchel by shuang song 

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cotton wire, steamed cattail, & rattan peel bag by shuang song

central academy of fine arts students straw wares designboom
steamed cattail & doeskin camera case by shenghan cai

students and craftsmen join forces to create contemporary straw wares
‘cattail cloth’; steamed cattail & banana leaf, qiyu han

central academy of fine arts students straw wares designboom
‘cattail cloth’, qiyu han 

students and craftsmen join forces to create contemporary straw wares
‘small monster’, mixed media, penfei he 

students and craftsmen join forces to create contemporary straw wares
‘cattail table’, mixed media, tianhe li 

students and craftsmen join forces to create contemporary straw wares
banana leaf is just as strong and practical as straw braid

students and craftsmen join forces to create contemporary straw wares
camera bag with varnished exterior 

central academy of fine arts students straw wares designboom
the pattern reveals the development of a small village in bo xing

 

 

designboom has received this project through its ‘DIY submissions’ feature, which welcomes readers to submit their own work for publication. see more designboom readers submissions here.

 

edited by: nick brink | designboom