Chinese Miao Art Exhibition, a visual feast during Milano Fashion Week

Miao costumes from Xingren city, Guizhou's Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao autonomous prefecture, are displayed at the exhibition. [Photo provided to eguizhou.gov.cn]

The Chinese Miao Art Exhibition, which will be held during Milano Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024 on Sept 24, aims to showcase the exquisite craftsmanship of Miao embroidery artists from Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The clothing art of Guizhou's Miao ethnic group has been passed down through generations, forming a rich, colorful, and unique aesthetic style. From this exhibition, visitors will see that Miao artists do not create their works using the artistic methods taught at modern art academies.

Instead, they are inspired by Miao myths and depict humans and nature as equal lives with souls. As a result, they blend various life forms of humans and nature together, creating unique and interchanging patterns.

The Miao artists use contrasting warm and cool colors to add radiance and beauty to each other. They use dots, lines, and shapes to layout the patterns, which have both symmetry and imbalance, singularity and repetition.

A male costume of the Miao ethnic group from Congjiang county, Guizhou's Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture. [Photo provided to eguizhou.gov.cn]

To express the beauty of Miao clothing, they created dozens of embroidery techniques such as Poxian embroidery, Zhou embroidery, Dui embroidery, Dazi embroidery, and horse-tail embroidery.

This exhibition, together with the fashion show of Chinese designer brand HUI, will not only showcase the unique charm of Miao embroidery, but also present the wisdom and talent of the Miao people.

Both will allow visitors to appreciate the delicate and colorful characteristics of Miao embroidery and experience the profound cultural connotations and ethnic spirit behind it. Meanwhile, HUI's "Miao Seals" show will incorporate Miao ethnic elements into clothing design to showcase the Miao ethnic group's history and culture.

The Chinese Miao Art Exhibition hopes to bring innovative artistic experiences to visitors and provide an opportunity for mutual exchange and learning between Chinese and Milanese artists.