克里斯与余杭纸伞的情缘

2022-10-28文/刘臻

文化交流 2022年10期

文/刘臻

浙江是非遗大省，有241项国遗、886项省遗，其中有8项非遗列入联合国科教文组织人类非遗名录。非遗的“不断再创造”是其不同于文物的地方，当下保护非遗最大的难点在于，其扎根生存的乡土文化土壤正在消失。而杭州余杭青山村的一群洋村民，正致力于将传统非遗与现代设计结合起来，开创了非遗活态传承的新局面。

从一把余杭非遗纸伞，到一把充满创意的纸椅《飘》，再到纸椅《蝶》……来自德国的克里斯通过创造性转化、创新性发展，激发出中国非遗走出国门、走向世界的强大生命力。

立足传统的未来融入外籍人才的创意

德国设计师克里斯于2010年来到中国，2011年，他跟随张雷夫妇拜访了余杭纸伞制作技艺非遗传承人刘有泉，并在当时简陋的纸伞作坊学习了3个多月，学习了余杭纸伞70多道传统制作工艺，其间，克里斯对制作伞面的“湿糊”工艺产生了浓厚的兴趣。“湿糊”是用胶水将整张皮纸湿透后一层一层地糊在伞骨之上的一道工艺。

克里斯和张雷夫妇运用“湿糊”工艺，把纸糊在其他形状的框架上，设计出现代的灯罩等一系列生活用品。他们还大胆地设想，在没有框架的情况下运用湿糊工艺创作新的产品纸椅。

2012年，一把名为《飘》的纸椅出现在意大利米兰设计周，它有着良好的牢固度和优美的设计感，给国际设计界带来了前所未有的惊喜，一举获得了米兰家具展设计师卫星展全场最高奖。纸椅《飘》赢得全世界的关注，在于材料的创新。中国皮纸由桑皮、山桠皮等韧皮纤维为原料制成，纸薄而多孔，皮纸作为余杭纸伞面遮风挡雨已属不易，居然还可以做成坚固的椅子，这可以说是一次大胆的尝试。

克里斯向刘伟学学习“湿糊”工艺。Christoph learns the “wet paste” technique from Liu Wei.

中国传统手工艺丰富的库藏成为克里斯和合作伙伴们源源不断的灵感来源。克里斯运用中国传统窗户的冰裂纹原理以及榫卯结构设计了可以无限衍生的书架，他们还传承中国材料的古老工艺创作了丝系列、竹系列、土系列、金属系列等在国际上受欢迎的产品。评价非遗项目是否活起来的标准，是看它是否融入了当代人的生活和当地的产业发展。克里斯等一批洋村民设计师的到来，让青山村的传统非遗与生活与产业建立了联系，成为青山村艺术振兴乡村、推动共同富裕的发展特色。

俯瞰杭州余杭青山村。An aerial view of Qingshan village in Yuhang district, Hangzhou city.

再现余杭纸伞联结世界与未来

纸伞最著名的故事是《白蛇传·游湖借伞》。许仙与白娘子在西湖断桥以一把纸伞为媒，结下了千古奇缘，成为民间流传最广的爱情传奇。二十世纪六七十年代，随着钢制骨架的晴雨两用伞的出现，余杭纸伞技艺濒临失传。直至2006年，余杭纸伞制作技艺非遗传承人刘有泉的出现，才使纸伞制作工艺得以恢复。2007年，余杭纸伞被列入浙江省非物质文化遗产名录。

余杭纸伞尽管恢复了传统技艺，但存在传承人普遍高龄的问题，在这之前，制作余杭纸伞的手艺人年龄都在60岁以上。纸椅《飘》在米兰设计周获大奖的消息传回国内，余杭纸伞作坊沸腾了，也让余杭纸伞制作技艺非遗传承人刘有泉的孙子刘伟学深感震撼。2014年，刘伟学从杭州师范大学设计专业毕业后，从爷爷刘有泉手里接过了传承余杭纸伞非遗项目的重任。克里斯和合作伙伴们跟爷爷刘有泉这一代师傅的合作，改变了刘伟学对余杭纸伞的印象，克里斯和合作伙伴们跟刘伟学的合作则改变了余杭纸伞的产业链发展。

克里斯和合作伙伴们通过解构纸伞，解构非遗的技艺，让更多的年轻人看到了中国非遗的未来。2015年，克里斯和合作伙伴们跟刘伟学联合制作了一把大纸伞，这把大纸伞作为装置艺术远渡重洋，参加了巴黎MO展览、米兰设计周展览以及雅典博物馆展览，再次走上国际舞台。2022年，刘伟学从爷爷手中接下非遗接力棒后的第八年，余杭纸伞在故宫文渊阁惊艳亮相，古老的非遗技艺在年轻的刘伟学手中重新焕发光彩，也在海内外拥有了一大批粉丝。

如今，90后的刘伟学打造的余杭纸伞产业链，从小山村的一个简陋作坊，到瓶窑老街上的余杭纸伞馆，让余杭纸伞撑进了故宫文渊阁，走出了国门，走向了国际。这项非遗技艺从爷爷手里恢复纸伞工艺，到孙子手里开纸伞网红店，让余杭纸伞再次建立了与现代生活的链接，形成了一个传承支持产业、产业促进就业、就业助力传承的非遗保护闭环。在国潮引领消费升级的浪潮中，像刘伟学这样的中国年轻人，开始重新培育非遗生存土壤，他们以自己的努力，让非遗在奔向物质富裕、精神富有的道路上与时代同行。

克里斯向房金泉学习纸伞制作工艺。Christoph learns the making techniques of oil-paper umbrella from Fang Jinquan.

喜看洋村民与未来乡村的大融合

青山村正在打造“未来乡村”，鼓励当地村民传承发展非遗文化产业。中国这十年从量到质的发展，使洋村民与未来乡村得以深度融合，克里斯的故事正是这一大背景下乡村发展与传统工艺融合创新的一个重要缩影。

余杭纸伞工艺的大胆创新，让克里斯看到了中国非遗的魅力，从此，“传统的未来”成为克里斯与伙伴们的设计思想，他们在交流与合作中碰撞出的创新火花，让余杭纸伞在传承非遗技艺的同时，从上游重塑了消费者对非遗的自信，从下游激活了非遗在产业发展中的活力。

这些年，克里斯走遍了全中国，学习各地的非遗技艺，收集相关的传统材料，并将它们的工艺进行解构与分析。2015年6月12日，克里斯和张雷夫妇对青山村里废弃的礼堂进行了保护性改造，用来展示他们收集的上千种中国非遗手工艺材料，面向社会免费公开。克里斯和合作伙伴们把这座非遗主题的资料馆取名为“融设计图书馆”。

三年前，克里斯把妻子、女儿、儿子接到中国，把家安在青山村，成为青山村的“洋村民”。如今，克里斯一家在这个江南小村庄上幸福地生活着。克里斯在青山村的家非常的环保，家里所有的管道与屋顶连接，屋顶有很大的空间来收集大量的水。他们设计了自然水灌溉系统，用塑料瓶搭建暖房用来种植蔬菜。他们还会将自己亲自种的蔬菜瓜果分享给邻居。

克里斯的妻子妮可非常喜欢青山村，只要村里有事，妮可的身影就会出现在乡村议事厅的议事会上。如今，妮可已经成为参与青山村公共事务管理的活跃分子。妮可非常喜欢大自然，她经常带着孩子们下地做农活，还在青山村发起了旧衣改造、垃圾桶美化、自然堆肥等一系列环保行动，与当地村民进行了很好的互动。

青山村一天中最美丽的时刻是太阳落山的时候，绯红的晚霞笼罩着青山，落日余晖洒满整个村庄。这时候克里斯会带着索尼娅、皮特在村里的坡地玩滑板，到溪边嬉戏玩耍，妮可则骑着自行车陪护在孩子们身边。克里斯在采访中说：“我们找到了一个完美的地方作为我们的图书馆，我们的工坊，我们的工作室，我们的家。我们现在住在这里非常高兴。”

德国设计师克里斯与他的一家在余杭青山村工作、生活的故事，以“外来客人”这一客观视角，让人们看到了中国非遗之魅力、未来乡村之面貌，同时展现了中国这十年的变化发展。正如克里斯在采访中说的那样：“在过去的十年，中国发生了很多的变化。在技术、交通以及智能设备领域的发展都非常迅速。在另一方面，人们的思维也在变化，变得更加欣赏和了解传统文化。”

克里斯与张雷夫妇讨论冰裂纹书架的设计和制作。Christoph, Zhang Lei and Jovana Zhang discuss the design and production of “ice crack” pattern of the traditional Chinese window for their book shelves.

Christoph John and the Yuhang Oil-Paper Umbrellas

By Liu Zhen

克里斯在工作室。Christoph works in his studio.

Zhejiang is a province that is rich in intangible cultural heritage. It has some 241 items of intangible cultural heritage at the national level and 886 at the provincial level, eight of which are on the UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The“continuous re-creation” of intangible cultural heritage is what differs itself from cultural relics. At present, one of the biggest difficulties in protecting intangible cultural heritage is the fastdisappearing local “cultural soil” in which it was born and takes root.But in Qingshan village of Yuhang district, Hangzhou, a group of foreign residents are committed to combining traditional intangible cultural heritage with modern design, creating a new pattern for the living inheritance of intangible cultural heritage.

One of them is Christoph John, a German designer. From oilpaper umbrellas, an intangible cultural heritage in Yuhang, to the“piao” (floating) and “die” (butter fly) paper chairs, Chris, through creative transformation and innovative development, is providing inspiration for China’s intangible cultural heritage to get more widely known to the world.

Chris came to China in 2010, and the next year, he followed his designing partners and couple Zhang Lei and Jovana Zhang, and paid a visit to Liu Youquan, an inheritor of the oil-paper umbrella craft in Yuhang. In Liu’s workshop, Chris studied for more than three months and got his hands on all the 70-odd processes involved in making a traditional oil-paper umbrella. At the time, he was fascinated with the “wet paste” process, in which whole pieces of paper are soaked with glue and then pasted layer by layer onto the umbrella ribs.

Borrowing the technique, Chris and the Zhang couple applied it to a series of other frameworks and shapes, creating such daily articles as lamp shades. They also boldly proposed to use the process to make paper chairs without resorting to any preexisting frame.

In 2012, a paper chair named “piao” appeared during the Milan Design Week in Italy. With sturdy strength and beautiful design, it brought unprecedented surprise to the international design circle and won the highest award at the Salone Satellite exhibition of Milan Furniture Fair. The paper chair attracted worldwide attention largely because of its innovative materials. The paper used is made of tough fibers such as the mulberry bark.

Indeed, the rich collection of China’s traditional handicrafts has proved to be a constant source of inspiration for Chris and his partners. Using an “ice crack” pattern of the traditional Chinese window screen as well as the Sunmao (mortise and tenon joints)structure, they built a shelf with modular parts, which can be added in an endless fashion. Besides, they’ve also created products that are themed on silk, bamboo, earth and metal, which are distinctively Chinese traditional materials.

One of the most important criteria to determine if the intangible cultural heritage has “come to life” is whether it has integrated into local life as well as local development. The arrival of Chris and his designer friends has undoubtedly sparked the cultural traditions of Qingshan village into life and made its efforts in rural revitalization and common prosperity.

The best-known Chinese tale on the oil-paper umbrella is perhaps the White Snake Lady, in which the two protagonists Xu Xian and Bai Niangzi (the snake lady) fell in love and eventually tied the knot because of an oil-paper umbrella. In the 1960s and 1970s,with the rise of steel ribbed umbrellas, the craftsmanship of oil-paper umbrella gradually declined and faced the risk of being lost forever.Until in 2006, Liu Youquan took the lead and started to revive the making techniques and skills of the oil-paper umbrellas. In 2007,the Yuhang paper umbrella was included in the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of Zhejiang Province.

On the other hand, while the craftsmanship of the Yuhang oilpaper umbrella was renewed, most of inheritors were already in an advanced age, all older than 60. When news of the paper chair “piao”winning a major award during the Milan Design Week, the whole oil-paper umbrella workshop back in Yuhang was elated and Liu Weixue, grandson of Liu Youquan, was also amazed. Weixue, who graduated in 2014 from Hangzhou Normal University majoring in design, was expected to take over the baton from his grandfather.Seeing the cooperation and innovative efforts, Weixue’s stereotypical perception of the Yuhang oil-paper umbrella has completed changed. And Weixue’s partnership with Chris and his co-designers has transformed the development of the oil- paper umbrella as an industry.

By deconstructing the oil-paper umbrella and its craftsmanship,Chris and co have enabled more young people to see the prospects of China’s intangible cultural heritage. In 2015, Chris and Liu Weixue jointly produced a large paper umbrella as an installation art, and signed it up for the Maison & Objet Fair in Paris, the Milan Design Week and the exhibitions at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. In 2022, the Yuhang oil-paper umbrella was displayed at the Palace Museum in Beijing as well. Indeed, Liu Weixue’s efforts— he has opened an online store to sell these beautiful products— to revitalize the ancient craftsmanship of the oil-paper umbrella have gained him a large number of followers both at home and abroad. During these years in China, Chris traveled all over China,learning the crafts of intangible cultural heritage, collecting relevant materials, and dissecting and analyzing their techniques and skills.Three years ago, Chris brought his wife, daughter and son to China and settled down in Qingshan village. They have lived an idyllic and environment-friendly life. The roof of their house collects rainwater into big containers, which they are using to watering the garden and vegetable patches. They have designed an irrigation system,built greenhouses out of plastic bottles to grow vegetables, and shared the produce with neighbors. Chris’s wife Nicole Goymann loves Qingshan village, and she takes an active part in the village’s public affairs. And Nicole loves nature too. She often takes the children to the fields to do farm work. She also initiated a series of environmental protection activities and had blended well into local life. “We found the perfect place for our library, our workshop, our studio, our home. We are very happy to live here now,” said Chris.

“In the past decade, many great changes have taken place in China,” he added. “On the other hand, people’s thinking is also changing; they are now more appreciative and understanding of the traditional culture.”