Intro

I started this collection of Chinese folk-made embroidery textiles in 2019. By that time, I was a student in a hands-on textile learning class ( Micro/Macro at SAIC). I began to look at textiles for a longer time - close and distant, with my hands, eyes, and mind.

A lot of these pieces were children’s supplies because the makers were mostly women, especially mothers. Although the exact date and region of each piece are not clear ( this will be my research points ), most of them are from Shaanxi (山西) and Shanxi (陕西), they could be identified through the embroidery techniques, materials, and applications.

The characters and imagery included in these pieces were often from historical didactic stories, myths, spiritual animals, and auspicious symbols. These textile objects often contain good wishes from the makers, for their beloved ones or for a better future. The process of making them was not a pastime but an education. Women had to learn to draw(not everyone could write, not even my own grandmother ), to stitch, to sew and to communicate.

This will be a ongoing collecting and studying project, I am open to all kinds of sharing - family-made textiles, stories, knowledge, institutions, collections, reflections, helps…etc

:) email me: bingbingtan126@gmail.com