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

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。

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

We warmly invite you to step into the world of Bai artistry and living heritage.
More booking information here: 2025 LONDON CRAFT WEEK WEBSITE