Yuzhen Pan

China

Year(s) attended: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Minority People Textile Folk Artists Cooperative of Southwest China

Weaving, Embroidery and Batik

A number of different minority groups, Miao, Yi, Dong and Bai, live in Guizhou Province and each group is identified by its different traditional techniques of intricate and colorful embroidery. The Miao women produce a variety of embroidered pieces executed in silk floss embroidery thread which is split to make a very fine strand, often on a ground of home-woven indigo-dyed cloth. These are then sewn onto garments or other items such as baby carriers. Batik is sometimes used with the embroidery. Yuzhen’s family continues to farm in Guizhou while she lives part time in Beijing working in an embroidery workshop and selling Miao textile items at an open air market. Her special wish is for more Miao women to have a ready market for their textiles so they can stay in their home communities where they have family farms.