A framework of culture-based innovation for the protection and development of intangible cultural heritages for design with focus on with Yanchuan patchwork

Abstract

This thesis investigates a group of Chinese folk artists and establishes a framework of culture-based innovation to protect and develop their works by deeply understanding the local cultural customs and the art philosophy of these artists. After comparing different art forms in Shaanxi Province, patchwork was chosen as the main research object because of its rich history and unique form of expression. Patchwork is a popular art form in many Western countries, and it can also be found in some small counties in Northwest China with a completely different appearance. In those small Chinese counties, patchwork is one type of traditional Chinese folk art and a form of intangible culture heritage that combines the skills of both paper cutting and embroidery. It is worth noting that this kind of beautiful folk art is now disappearing due to a lack of interest by young people. In this research, we will investigate the deep meanings of the Gao family patchworks from Yanchuan County and demonstrate their relevance to new design technologies. The patchworks of Gao's family are highly imaginative, fully reflect the local folk customs, and demonstrate a master level of hand-making skills. This research shows that the denotations of Yanchuan Patchworks are much more than what is external shown. Thus, the different meanings of each symbol may provide new inspirations for modern designers of different area. To establish a deep understanding of Yanchuan Patchwork, some qualitative research methods have been used; field studies of art anthropology with interviews and observations, symbolic analysis and experiments with culture-based innovation methods via 3D printing technology have been conducted. To establish a framework for culture-based innovation, a theoretical structure will be presented logically from a literature review to the research methods. This framework was organized into 3 sections. The first section is about people: the lifestyle of patchwork artists, the process of creating Yanchuan patchworks and how the artists impart their skills to the next generation are discussed. The second section is about symbolism: a collection of various symbols in Yanchuan patchwork and the denotations of these symbols based on traditional Chinese thinking are identified. The last section is about design innovation: experiments will show how to utilize the symbols from Yanchuan patchwork in graphic design, laser cutting design and 3D printing design. Through a generative process in which the elements in patchworks are reused to generate 3D designs, it can be demonstrated that the transformation from 2D graphic patterns on a patchwork to a 3D product has great implications for preserving this traditional art as well as for developing design skills with advanced design technologies. In this thesis, we will present several examples of 2D patchworks transformed into 3D products and will propose ways for coding a generative product design system that can make variations of these 3D products beyond the imagination of the original patchwork artists.