their own artworks. Why they came to Jingdezhen was because the local craftsmen have a marvellous technique. It is a very mature technique, using all kinds of materials, and all kinds of colour. If you can imagine it, they can make it happen.
And the process is very flexible. It is divided into different procedures, each craftsman working on ones. For example, they have people who only throw the clay, some only paint; others glaze; someone else fires it. So that makes it very suitable for outsiders to make porcelain. You can hire people to work for you, maybe doing some steps yourself.
SM How many workshops and craftspeople are there?
LF According to the statistics, there are 3,000 workshops in Jingdezhen and 12,0000 craftsmen working. Not only established artists but also students come to work and study in Jingdezhen. Very famous artists can sell their works very well, but I wondered how the young students could survive here. What I found was that most of them are not actually making artwork. What they make is stuff for daily use – such as teapots or vases – but in artistic styles. And these things are often made with a kind of flavour of traditional Chinese style – so they are learning from tradition and appreciating a range of styles from various dynasties. So they are not just learning from the traditional handicraftsmen – who prefer Ming and Qing styles. But they draw inspiration from others, such as that of the Song dynasty, which itself had been learned largely from Japanese and Korean craftsmen. As well as leaning from all different dynasties and the influences of different areas and countries through these, the students can learn from the artists from other countries, as well as from local people.
Artists and students come here not so much to preserve the intangible cultural heritage, but to use it. I discuss this as heritage having become a resource. On the basis of my research I wrote a book called From Heritage to Resource. And now you can see this happening widely – heritage being used as a resource. We can even say that actually the more traditional a city is, the more likely it is to develop in a successful modern direction.
SM That is really interesting that it is so dynamic. That goes against some ideas of heritage. But does that ever come into conflict with other ideas?
LF Yes, actually, it is pretty conflicted. There are two very different parts of this city, and two ideas about heritage. One part is characterised by making very creative, modern and dynamic changes. And in the other part, run mainly by the local government, they are trying to preserve the very traditional parts of the heritage.
SM So maybe it would be good for the porcelain production not to get UNESCO heritage listing, for example, because it might stop the life and the dynamism maybe?
LF Actually, in UNESCO’s World Heritage programme, they allow a certain amount of creation. They called it living heritage or live h