Recently, Mr. Li Fuming, the famous master of silver pot, who is the state representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage (Heqing silver forgings), has been officially appointed as the senior cultural and artistic consultant of UKIIC. Mr. Li Fuming and UKIIC will discuss the development opportunities of Sino-English cultural and creative cooperation, so that more people in the world can feel the charm of Chinese traditional culture, and let more Chinese artistic elements and spirit of artistic innovation go to the world.
Mr. Li Fuming said, "As the general manager of 'Li Xiaobai' silverware company, Li Xiaobai silverware is committed to promoting Chinese metal art to the world and building an international platform for the Chinese metal art field. It is a great honor to serve as Senior Art Advisor of UKIIC, to promote the cultural exchange of Chinese and Western metal art and to promote the contemporary revival of traditional metal art."
In June 2018, Maria Hanson, Master of Arts from the Royal College of Art, visited Heqing to investigate traditional handicrafts. Maria Hanson has played a key role in many organisations. She was an executive member of the first British Contemporary Jewellery Institute, a member of the Sheffield Metal Festival for seven years, and is currently trustee of the Sheffield Museum Charity.
In November 2018, Chris Knight, a famous European artist, a member of the Royal Society of Art, and Professor of Metal and Jewelry at Sheffield Hallam University School of Art, and Rui Li, Director of Sheffield Hallam University China and Director of Sheffield Hallam University China School of Art, visited Heqing. Further exchange with Li Fuming on the forging techniques of Heqing silver ornaments. The two parties have decided to build a Bairui Contemporary Art Space in Heqing Base of Dali Traditional Craft Workstation in 2019, aiming to promote the contemporary and international development of the traditional handicraft of Heqing silver jewelry forging through holding international exhibitions and art activities, so as to present the exchange and dialogue between Chinese and Western art and handicraft fields.
First on the left is Li Fuming, second on the left is Professor Chris Knight, third on the left is Director Rui Li
It is the common dream of several generations of Heqing craftsmen to make the forging of silver ornaments go abroad and go to the world. Li Fuming, the head of Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio, went to London in 2019 to have a live exchange on Heqing silver jewelry forging skills. The first stop of this exchange was to visit Rebecca Dequin at the Royal College of Art in the UK to exchange ideas on the craft of hand forging.
In the same year in Li Fuming British goldsmith, the director of the centre for Peter, accompanied by Mr Taylor, a visit to the UK goldsmith, inc., the goldsmith education training base, established in 1835 at the centre of the goldsmith building museum and library, the zero distance ornamental goldsmith hundreds of years, thousands of precious works of art, and discussed the goldsmith, head of the company to participate in, The specific issues of the 2019 Intangible Heritage Dialogue of Heqing Base of Dali Traditional Craft Workstation will be undertaken by Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio. The British Goldsmith Company also invited Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio to participate in the 2019 World Craft Fine Exhibition held in the UK.
Mr. Li Fuming and Mr. Peter Taylor, Director of the British Goldsmiths Center, took a photo
Later, Mr. Li Fuming visited Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, where he visited Studio Maria Hanson and Chris Knight, and confirmed the details of the two studios' participation in the 2019 Dali Traditional Craft Workstation Heqing Base Dialogue. Li Fuming in communicating with Chinese students at the university of Sheffield hallam discussion, found that many students have ever worked as an intern in heqing, and after graduation to heqing creation desire, Li Fuming tell everybody, Dali traditional craft workstation heqing base - xiao-yin li pot studio, welcome to creation, and as much as possible, provide better conditions for everyone.
Li Fuming shows Heqing silver jewelry forging skills
The Dean of Sheffield Hallam University in the UK awarded Li Fuming the honorary teacher certificate and invited Li Xiaobai Studio to teach and communicate with the university every year
Li Xiao Silver Teapot Studio was founded in 2008, mainly to design and manufacture sterling silver tea ceremony utensils. After more than ten years of precipitation, the studio has built a well-known brand of "Li Xiaobai" in the industry and become a famous manufacturer of pure handmade silverware in China.
Over the past 12 years, Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio has always adhered to the vision of "making world-class handmade silver ware and creating a group of first-class arts and crafts masters". In 2010, Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio broke the foreign technical blockade and restored the ancient method to create the first handle making silver pot. In 2011, I made a handmade silver pot with "jade graupel". In 2013, the material Mosaic technique of different metals of gold and silver was resumed. Up to now, the studio has 26 national patents and won 47 government awards at all levels.
With the development of e-commerce, while innovating the traditional craft, Li Xiao Silver Pit Studio, relying on the Internet, created the Taobao live broadcast platform and first moved the sales model of traditional physical stores to the e-commerce platform, which led to the rapid development of the high-end silver industry in Dali Heqing. At present, li xiaobai studio taobao.com silver pot sales price and sales far ahead of the national industry, through the Internet, its products are exported to the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries, in the global handmade silver pot industry occupies a place. The rise of Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio makes China's homemade hand-made silver pot fully replace the imported hand-made silver pot, breaking the long-term monopoly pattern of foreign silver pot in China at one fell swoop, and changing the competitive pattern of China's hand-made silver pot industry.
In October 2019, Heqing base of Dali traditional craft workstation was expanded and put into use in Li Xiao Baiyin Hub Studio. With a total construction area of 4,800 square meters, the base is equipped with Heqing Silver Display Space, Teaching and Approaching Experience Space, Heqing Silver Museum, Chinese Tea Culture Space, Contemporary Art Classroom of Bai Rui, Teacher's Studio of Cooperative University, etc. Workstation since its establishment, actively explore the protection of heritage and the modern application of traditional craft, efforts to achieve the traditional craft in the "academic research" "passing on development" and "innovation practice" on the organic combination of, give full play to the workstation in the revitalization of traditional craft, intangible and integration of tourism, the heritage power poverty engines, rural revitalization of the positive role.
As the general manager of Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio, Li Fuming always insists on innovation in product design, production and process technology. His works are creative, fresh and natural, unconventional, and have a high reputation in the national silver pot circle. He has also been invited as a special professor by Yunnan University of Arts, Zhejiang Normal University and other universities. He was awarded the honorary title of Chief Technician of Yunnan Province under the Ten Thousand People's Plan by the People's Government of Yunnan Province, and was awarded the title of "Honorary Teacher" by Sheffield Hallam University. In 2019, Li Fuming and Sheffield hallam university's China director lee founded the scottberrie joint ms art space, through exhibitions, BBS, artist residencies, etc. The experimental project, for the Chinese metal art building international platform, promote cultural exchanges between Chinese and western art of metal, promote contemporary revival in the field of traditional metalworking.
Note: Information provided by Li Xiao Silver Pot Studio
Some of the material was written from sohu News