In 2011, I went to Xishuangbanna, visiting Mengla and Yiwu, the tea highlands. When I was in Yiwu, I was invited by a beautiful young mother to visit her tiny tea factory and to have lunch. I was really touched by her hospitality.
Since then, it had always been my desire to go back to Xishuangbanna in a way which I could serve the community. I was really excited to find ACAF's Arts Can Do Artist Residency in Yunnan.
Through this program, I have been teaching arts to children at Longlin Primary School, which is located in the beautiful countryside surrounded by hills on all sides and close to a Dai ethnic village.
During my residency there, I constructed an Art Yurt with the help of the children. This temporary outdoor structure is based on the traditional yurt of Central Asia. The purpose of getting the children involved in this project is to create a non-classroom environment, where children have the opportunity to interact with each other and engage in mobility. The children also involved in the assembling of the yurt.
The art project emphasizes on the practicality of arts in daily life.
The outer wall of the yurt was stenciled with tribal patterns originated from Dai ethnic tribe. This is to revitalize and to promote tribal arts from the autonomous region. The art yurt was exhibited at ACAF's group exhibition in Shanghai.
