An array of dyeing works are on display at Zaowu Tiandi (Creation World) in downtown Nantong on Oct 16. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

An exhibition marking the completion of the sixth dyeing seminar hosted by Nantong Blue Calico Museum and Nantong University opened at Zaowu Tiandi (Creation World) in downtown Nantong on Oct 16.

The exhibition, which will run for a month, showcases more than 100 diverse works produced during the one-month seminar by 30 trainees from Yunnan, Guizhou, Gansu, Shandong and other regions. 

The seminar is part of a training plan dedicated to the inheritors of Chinese intangible cultural heritages launched by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in 2015.

During the session, Nantong University invited experts from China’s top art institutes, including the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University and Central Academy of Fine Arts, to conduct themed lectures to the trainees so as to immerse them in dyeing theories and skills.

The trainees also learned basic dyeing techniques and traditional patterns of Nantong blue calico and were encouraged to integrate the Nantong style with those from their hometowns.

For example, Lai Lei and Zhang Juanjuan from Guizhou province have adopted the bold combination of Nantong blue calico and "Liangbu", a traditional cloth by the Dong ethnic group, in the production of bags and lampshades.

Lai said that craftspeople of the Dong ethic group also produce blue calico, though the techniques are different. She added that she will teach what she has learned at the seminar to her fellow artisans and help promote the protection and research of local blue calico.

A woman showcases two lampshades featuring blue calico at the exhibition. [Photo/ntfabu.com]