Young people swell demand for creative cultural items

Museums produce rare, beautiful, fun goods based on relics, art, history

When art designer Lu Xue decided to transform the inspiration she took from the renowned Tang Dynasty (618-907) painting Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers into tangible art curios, they struck a major chord with museum patrons.

Her creations include butterfly-shaped rings, and bracelets and earrings featuring preserved flowers and natural stones of different hues. Since the items hit the market at the beginning of the year, visitors to the Liaoning Provincial Museum in Shenyang have been lining up to buy the items.

During the summer vacation, some of the items from the series, such as a Chinese-style corsage, were among the top sellers at the museum in the provincial capital.

"When I laid my eyes on the precious ancient painting at the museum, I noticed that women in ancient times wore cut flowers as part of their attire. This inspired me to think about how we could apply fresh flowers to modern girls, allowing them to wear flowers in a different way," said Lu, who used to be a floral artist.

The classic work by renowned artist Zhou Fang paints a vivid picture of the life of palace women who wore their hair styled into high, cloud-like buns, with fluffy "sideburns". Between the buns are inserted flowers including Chinese peonies, lotuses, and hydrangeas.

The painting is a microcosm of the Tang Dynasty, full of elegance and grandeur, and showcasing an epoch of wealth and splendor, said Dong Baohou, vice-curator of the Liaoning museum.

Lu carefully selected natural pink, blue and green stones and sealed dried flowers in them by using modern technology, giving the flowers an amber texture and a colored glaze.

"This cultural and creative product not only brings cultural relics to life, but also allows more people to learn about China's excellent traditional culture," said Lu who is part of the cultural and creative team assembled by the museum last year.

To date, the team has developed hundreds of items — ranging from bookmarks, costumes, cosmetics and skincare products — which bear elements of cultural pieces at the museum. Last year, sales of those products reached 14 million yuan ($1.96 million), the museum said.