2025 LONDON CRAFT WEEK YI CRAFTS EXHIBITION

Living Spirits: Bai Craft and the Art of Nature

As part of London Craft Week, our first exhibition in the UK, celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the Bai people, an ethnic minority from southwest China.
The Bai people of Dali, located in the Yunnan province of China, honour nature as sacred. This exhibition draws on the Bai people's traditional 三坊一照壁 (Three Memorial Archways and One Screen Wall) architecture, reflecting their mountain lifestyle and spiritual practices.
Through embroidery, indigo textiles, traditional clothing, ceramics, Dali dreamstone, silver and woodwork, it explores how the Bai weave spirituality into nature's essence.

Exhibition Artists

Yi Crafts 怡手作
Liuran 六然文化
Dali Puzhen Indigo Textiles Museum 大理璞真扎染博物馆
 Dali Dreamstone Museum 大理石空博物馆
JianChuan TianYiYuan Woodcarving Studio 剑川天艺园木雕
Wenhuan Yang 杨文焕
Heqing Gao Jinfu Wamao 鹤庆郜金福瓦猫
Jianchuan Dong Yuechang Wamao剑川董月畅黑陶瓦猫
Su Longxiang Wamao苏龙祥瓦猫
Dong Jianhua Wamao董建华瓦猫
Cun Si Silver Studio 寸四银庄
Zaizao Studio 在造工作室

Supporting Organization: Dali TV Station 大理电视台

The Exhibition starts here:

Introduction 前言

The Bai people, who have long dwelt by the shores of Erhai, carry within their traditions a profound reverence for 万物有灵 (All Things Have Spirit). This belief originates from their 本主 (Benzhu) faith, seamlessly woven into the fabric of daily life and craftsmanship. From heart to hand, from eye to soul, the passage of time is observed, participated in, and experienced through their artistry.
Through the stillness of ancient rituals and the dynamism of contemporary life, an enduring spiritual order reveals itself in the landscapes that once captivated Bai ancestors-the sun and moon, mountains and rivers-imbuing their world with a deep sense of cultural belonging. Yet, beyond solemn devotion, there is a fluidity in their craft, where the essence of birds, beasts, flowers, and trees takes form through the touch of masterful hands, as if drifting through a dreamscape of the spiritual world, glimpsing the truths of existence.
白族，世居洱海。‘万物有灵’ 的信仰自白族的本主信仰而始，镌刻进白族人的手作日常之中，它们由心至手，由眼至魄，在极静极闹的时光变化之中观看，参与，经历时间。是白族祖先也曾崇拜的日月山河弥漫着古老的秩序，好似一种文化的安适感。亦是鸟兽花树之灵气流转于妙手和自然之天成，如在梦寐中畅游灵性世界而窥探世间一切真理。如果说手作的目的是为了留住匆匆而过的时间，那我们人类的天赋是看见时间在手作上留下的跨越时光的灵性。

三坊一照壁，四合五天井（Three chambers with one screen wall, four harmonies and five courtyards）

Dwelling within-Earthborn-Bond and Vow-Whispering Remains, as the cycle of life, is also the imprint of spirits traversing through all things in nature, with which people converse through life's cycles. The architectural form is "he" (enclosure), also a kind of cycle, like the circle of life, enclosed yet not confined. '三坊一照壁，四合五天井（Three chambers with one screen wall, four harmonies and five courtyards），where the Bai people cohabit with all living spirits: The courtyards serve as cosmic looms, weaving celestial elements-clouds, water, and starlight-into the very fabric of home; while the screen walls stand as silent sentinels, bridging the mundane and spiritual realms. Within these architectural spaces emerges a profound "poetics of dwelling," where the spiritual realm permeates everyday existence. Here, life unfolds as art-both poetry and painting-as residents attune themselves to the rhythmic dialogue between time's gentle murmurs and nature's soulful breaths with each rising sun and setting moon.

If craftsmanship exists to capture fleeting time, then perhaps the human gift is the ability to perceive the soulfulness that lingers in these objects, preserved through generations, transcending time itself.

白族，世居洱海。‘万物有灵’ 的信仰自白族的本主信仰而始，镌刻进白族人的手作日常之中，它们由心至手，由眼至魄，在极静极闹的时光变化之中观看，参与，经历时间。是白族祖先也曾崇拜的日月山河弥漫着古老的秩序，好似一种文化的安适感。亦是鸟兽花树之灵气流转于妙手和自然之天成，如在梦寐中畅游灵性世界而窥探世间一切真理。如果说手作的目的是为了留住匆匆而过的时间，那我们人类的天赋是看见时间在手作上留下的跨越时光的灵性。

寄居-降临-盟约-归返，作为生命的循环，也是灵在自然万物间穿梭的印迹，人们通过生命的循环与之对话。建筑形式是合，也是一种循环，如同生命的轮回，围合而不封闭。‘三坊一照壁，四和五天井’，白族与万物生灵共同栖居与此:天井如织，将云水星光编织入家的经纬;照壁立心，成为人与灵界往来的无言使者。这一方寸之间，形成了一种"栖居诗学"，让灵性的穿梭流动在日常生活之中，如诗如画，在日升月落的呼吸间，聆听岁月的絮语与自然的叹息。

Dwelling Within 寄居

In this sacred covenant with the natural world, the divine presence manifests through materials of nature-wood, clay, and cotton-each transformed by skilled hands into vessels of spiritual connection. Perched atop rooftops, the Zilli (Tile Cat) stands as a vigilant guardian spirit of homes and villages, its exaggerated features and fierce gaze warding off malevolent forces. Wood carving artistry, fashioned from Yunnan pine and Chinese catalpa, merges northern boldness with southern elegance, adorning doors and windows with depictions of the natural world that surrounds them-an embodiment of the Bai people's intimate bond with Dali's landscapes.
白族人使用自然之材料重塑对信仰的想象力，以木材，泥土，棉，制成实用物件，但同时，也将生活的寄望和信仰借巧手篆刻进物品之中。灵性流转于器物之中，连接着白族人的精神世界与日常生活。本次展品所展出的瓦猫，便被认为是守护家寨之神灵居所。瓦猫是原狩猎时代对虎的图腾崇拜演变而来，通过夸张的表现手法，如大口大肚，粗壮四肢，怒目圆瞪，使得瓦猫有了震慑妖魔，看家护院的寓意。木，兼具柔韧与坚硬，是自然之礼物。白族人的起源就与一根水上浮木有关，而它也被用作和祖先与神灵的交流之器物。木鱼被彩色棉线与布料装饰，是白族人热烈之情感的外化。云南松和楸木是白族木雕的主要材料，融合了中国北方的豪气和江南的柔美，这是白族文化与中原文化交融的重要节点。在木板上雕刻自然事物是最常见的木雕风格，鱼虫花鸟，借住其中，白族人用来做屏风或是窗棂，以此表达与大理自然万物的羁绊。

Exhibit 1- Wa Mao Ensemble 瓦猫群

Exhibit 2- Dragon Head San Xian 龙头三弦

Exhibit 3- Bogu Four - Panel Screen 博古四条屏

Exhibit 4- Nine Dragon Silver Vessel

Exhibit 5- Fire and Wood Deities 火木二神

Exhibit 6- Pictorial History of the Bai 白国画史

Exhibit 7- Jia Ma Woodblock Series 甲马板矩阵

Earthborn 降临

To the Bai people, spirit is not acquired but bestowed-present in all children at birth, only to gradually fade with time. This fleeting essence of life's beginning is honored and protected through TEl (children's hats), each uniquely crafted to safeguard the spiritual purity of the young. Silver amulets serve as talismans against misfortune, ensuring safe passage through the vulnerable early years. In these customs, we witness the reverence for new life-a celebration of the untainted connection between the newborn and the spiritual realm.

对白族人民来说，精神并非后天习得，而是与生俱来的每个孩子出生时，精神便已存在只是会随着时间的流逝而逐渐消逝。人们通过“童帽”（儿童的帽子）来尊崇和守护生命之初的这稍纵即逝的精髓。每一顶童帽都经过精心制作，以守护幼儿的精神纯洁。银质护身符则可抵御厄运，确保他们平安度过脆弱的早年。在这些习俗中，我们见证了对新生命的崇敬，庆祝新生儿与精神世界之间纯洁无瑕的联系。

Exhibit 8- Lion & Archway Hat

Exhibit 9- Bai Jia Suo & Yin Tong Zhuo 百家锁 & 银童镯

Bond and Vow 盟约

The Bai people believe that the sun, moon, stars, clouds, water, fire, mountains, stones, and all living beings possess an intrinsic divine force, not mere objects of admiration but living entities with presence and soul. Through the art of ILi (tie-dyeing) and embroidery, sacred symbols are replicated, establishing a dialogue between human and divine. Marriage ceremonies, with their elaborate attire and rituals, represent not only covenants between individuals but also bonds with nature itself. Through these ancient practices, the Bai people establish an intimate dialogue with the divine, each preserving within swirling pattern its threads the profound reverence and wonder they hold for the natural world.
戴盘盘帽，外着坎肩，宽襟大袖，是大理甸南地区的女性婚礼服饰，它是清朝宫延服饰和本民族服饰的一次融合。传说白族妇女为了记住历法，以盘盘帽代表月亮。帽顶插一根绣花针，代表新娘勤劳。婚礼作为人与人的盟约，白族人的蓝染技艺便代表着人与自然的契约。
白族人认为，日、月、星、辰、云、水、火、山、石、昼、夜以及动植物都具有某种内在的神圣力量，它们都是有生命、有灵性的个体，而不是毫无生气的审美客体。而扎染通过复刻这种图腾，借住神灵的实体形象，建立起人神的交流。我们展出的扎染过程，是自然之法则的重现，也是白族人对自然的敬畏。

Exhibit 10- Yun Jian 云肩

Exhibit 11- Bai Bride’s Attire, Diannan 鹤庆甸南白族新娘装

Exhibit 12- Life of Silver Bangles 一生的银镯

Exhibit 13- Bai Indigo Circle 靛蓝之环

Exhibit 14 - Tracing Threads 追线而行

Whispering Remains 归返

In the veined surfaces of Dali marble, known as Dreamstone, time itself paints landscapes unseen, forming patterns beyond human comprehension. These silent stones speak in whispers of the region's spiritual essence.Similarly, fungi in Yunnan culture symbolize nature's gifts and the memory of the land-a tribute to the forest ecology. Within these elements rests an unspoken oracle, drawing observers into a wordless conversation with the spiritual realm, connecting them to the heart of their homeland and the endless cycle of life that sustains it.
白族人民拥有着以该地命名的大理石，Dalidreamstone。在它神圣的缄默之中，是时间之神在作画。它巧夺天工，宛如无人可解之神谕，如梦似幻，一切仿若内心反射与其上。白族人认为你加入这场灵性的对话，不出声，却已经有无数的念头将你带至白族人的心灵家园。

Exhibit 15- Sanfang Yizhaobi 三坊一照壁