In order to further promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture represented by embroidery, showcase the protection results of representative embroidery intangible cultural heritage projects across the country, and promote exchanges and reference among various embroidery types, on December 22, the 2024 Embroidery Art Exhibition Week, hosted by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Suzhou Municipal People's Government, and undertaken by the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department, Suzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Bureau, and Suzhou High-tech Zone Management Committee, opened at the China Embroidery Art Museum in Suzhou High-tech Zone. Qian Gang, member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Jin Jie, member of the Standing Committee of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and Minister of the Propaganda Department, Ji Jing, Deputy Mayor of Suzhou Municipal People's Government, and other leaders and guests attended the event.
The theme of this exhibition week is "Splendid China, Beautiful Jiangnan". It fully displays the embroidery art characteristics of different regional cultural spaces in the form of static exhibitions of works, dynamic exhibitions of inheritors, and live performances of operas. 45 intangible cultural heritage embroidery projects and 68 embroidery inheritors from 25 provinces across the country were invited to participate in the exhibition.
At the opening ceremony, the "Splendid China·Intangible Cultural Heritage (Embroidery) Boutique Hall" was unveiled. In the exhibition hall, inheritors of projects on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, such as Gesar, Kunqu Opera, and Cantonese Opera, performed on site, giving the audience an immersive viewing experience. At the same time, a number of theme activities were held, including the "Embroidery and Life Aesthetics" academic symposium.
In recent years, Jiangsu Province has strengthened the construction of traditional craft brands, accelerated the training of talents in inheriting intangible cultural heritage, promoted the deep integration of intangible cultural heritage and tourism, and led the new trend of intangible cultural heritage consumption, which has promoted the better integration of intangible cultural heritage into modern life. Zhenhu Street, Suzhou High-tech Zone, where the event was held, is the main birthplace and industrial gathering place of Suzhou embroidery. This 20-square-kilometer town has more than 8,400 embroiderers, more than 400 embroidery shops and embroidery studios. The annual output value of Suzhou embroidery reaches 1.5 billion yuan. It is the only national-level "intangible cultural heritage tourism town" in the province. It has cultivated 3 Chinese arts and crafts masters and representative inheritors of national intangible cultural heritage (Suzhou embroidery), 19 provincial masters (celebrities), nearly 100 senior arts and crafts masters and a large number of new generation backbones of Suzhou embroidery, in order to promote the high-quality development of the Suzhou embroidery industry and compose a beautiful chapter of "embroidery" of cultural prosperity.
