Young woman promotes Yunnan's tie-dyeing craft in UK

In 2019, Duan Yiran, a young woman of the Bai ethnic group in Zhoucheng village, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province, came to the UK to promote the craft of tie-dyeing.

The tie-dyeing techniques of the Bai ethnic group in Yunnan Province are a national intangible cultural heritage in China.

Duan's family has been inheriting the tie-dyeing craft for four generations.

Photo shows tie-dyeing cloth at Zhoucheng village of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Yunnan province. (Photo/Xinhua)

"Every household in my village is engaged in tie-dyeing, with most of the practitioners being elderly people. Growing up, I didn’t think the craft was cool," said Duan.

In 2015, Duan pursued costume design studies at a UK university.

"When I was designing Victorian age costumes, I used embroidery needlework and knotting techniques that I had learned from my grandmother. My teachers thought this was very interesting and said I was their first student to make fabrics using the craft of an ethnic group," Duan recalled.

This experience ignited Duan's passion for the tie-dyeing art of the Bai ethnic group.

After graduating from the university, Duan opened a tie-dyeing studio in London. At first, only a few people visited her studio, mostly her teachers and classmates.

Duan produced a documentary on the tie-dyeing craft of the Bai ethnic group. She also offered online courses to introduce the craft and shared the courses on social media platforms in the UK.

Thanks to these efforts, Duan's studio gradually gained recognition, receiving orders from such countries as the UK, the US, Spain and Australia, in just over a one year since it started.

When making tie-dyeing handiworks, people of the Bai ethnic group often create patterns to show their pursuit of beauty, convey good wishes and keep records of the history of the Bai ethnic group.

"Many people focus on techniques and neglect the cultural connotations of the handiworks," said Duan, adding that when she taught the tie-dyeing craft, she first discussed the cultural background of patterns on the handiworks before she taught the techniques.

Duan has given around 500 classes involving more than 10,000 trainees.

"Before learning the tie-dyeing craft, many people didn't know about the many ethnic groups in China. My studio provides an opportunity for them to learn about the culture of ethnic groups in China," Duan said.

"I hope that I can help sell handiworks made by people of other ethnic groups to contribute to the development of the local economy," said Duan.

Every Friday, Duan's grandparents will go to a fair in the village to buy costumes made by local people and then mail the clothes to Duan. After receiving the clothes, Duan will sell them in the UK.

Duan said by selling the costumes of ethnic groups in the UK, she can help create connections between different cultures.

Duan plans to take her trainees to Dali to promote exchanges between them and local inheritors, and also invite local masters of traditional crafts to lecture in the UK.