Newman Huo

A TOTAL of 157 works from the Guangdong Folk Art Museum (GFAM) in Guangzhou are on display at the Shenzhen Museum until Jan. 13.

A showcase of the traditional folk art and culture of Guangdong Province, the works on display have been divided into eight categories, namely Guangzhou colored porcelain, Shiwan pottery, Guangdong embroidery, Guangzhou ivory carvings, Chaozhou wood carvings, Foshan woodblock prints, and Guangdong straw pictures.

In the Guangzhou colored porcelain hall, visitors can see various kinds of exquisite porcelain pieces from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) as well as those produced by modern masters.

From display boards in the exhibition hall, visitors can also about the development of Guangzhou colored porcelain, as well as the techniques of making Guangzhou colored porcelain.

During the early Qing Dynasty, plain Jingdezhen porcelain from neighboring Jiangxi Province was shipped to Guangzhou, where it was colored before being exported.

The unique artistic style of Guangzhou colored porcelain took shape in the later part of the Qing Dynasty to cater to the increasing demand for Chinese porcelain among Westerners.

One of the highlights of the Guangdong embroidery works on display is a 1.2-meter-long and 1.1-meter-wide work called “Lingering Melodies from the Xunyang River” by Liang Guoxing, from the Lingnan Research Institute for Guangdong Embroidery

The embroidery work is based on an oil painting with the same name by the famous Chinese painter Chen Yifei, who died in 2005.

Combining traditional techniques of Guangdong embroidery with contemporary aesthetics, the embroidery work depicts three characters from a poem by Bai Juyi, the famous poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

An extremely delicate craft with a long history in China, ivory carving prospered in Guangzhou during the Qing Dynasty.

Ivory carving includes two main carving techniques: round carving and open carving. Round carving is used to make human figures, animals and mountains. Open carving is used to make boats, vases, towers and ivory balls.

Visitors can see famous Guangzhou ivory carvings, which include a multi-layered ball, a luxury boat as well as a sculpture of a mountain with human figures.

Shiwan in Foshan, Guangdong Province, has been known for producing ceramics since the Tang Dynasty. No glaze is applied to the faces of human figures, which is a distinctive feature of Shiwan figurines.

At the exhibition, visitors can see Shiwan figurines made by the renowned artisan Huo Jin, who died in Taiwan in 1940s, as well as a sculpture of Ouyang Xiu, the famous writer of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), by contemporary artist Liao Hongpiao

Established in 1959, the GFAM is the only folk art museum in China, according to the museum’s deputy curator Huang Haiyan.

Housing more than 17,900 folk craft pieces, the GFAM is located in Chen’s Ancestral Hall in Guangzhou, which was built between 1890 and 1894.