Problems faced by Chinese folk paper-cutting in modern development
With the development of the times, some traditional paper-cut forms have been gradually faded and disappeared. At the same time, new types of paper-cut have appeared, such as invitations, trademarks, calendars, advertisements, stamp designs, newspaper and magazine inscriptions, etc. Product packaging design, stage scene layout, film and television decorations, illustrations, comics, animation, book binding, wall hangings, etc. Designers in many other fields have also introduced paper-cutting into a wider range of modern design applications.
In the mid-1980s, Foshan Folk Art Research Society designed a large-scale paper-cut mural "Dream of Red Mansions" in the form of a 22-meter-long and 6-meter-wide paper specifically for the Guangzhou Garden Hotel. In the Spring Festival galas held in various places during the Spring Festival in recent years, the unique festive atmosphere of paper-cutting has also been used in the stage decoration to create a joyful atmosphere during the Spring Festival. Paper-cut patterns are also used in modern design art fields such as clothing design, furniture decoration, and landscape settings. Its unique expressive power has begun to be respected by more and more designers. In the process of Chinas modernization, due to the entry of market economy, the disintegration of farming culture, the living conditions of folk paper-cutting have undergone earth-shaking changes.
Because national paper-cutting has lost the agricultural cultural soil on which it originally relied, the folk customs carrying folk paper-cutting have been diluted or disappeared in the process of change. Its practicality has lost its market, and its entertainment has also been affected by modern culture and strong popularity. Due to cultural impact, the category, quality and quantity of folk paper-cutting have declined to varying degrees. Paper-cutting factories in various places, which originally relied on state support to earn foreign exchange through exporting paper-cutting craftsmanship, gradually lost their former glory due to continuous loss of orders in the early 1980s. The decoupage market is flooded with crude, cheap products. Many restructured paper-cutting factories are small in scale and basically adopt self-produced and self-sold business methods, which is not conducive to undertaking large-scale production orders, let alone their development and innovation. The theme of paper-cutting products is the same and lacks art and The problem of humanistic connotation is serious.
In tourist markets in various places, you can buy paper-cuts with the same theme for about five or ten yuan, but paper-cuts with regional styles and historical heritage characteristics are becoming increasingly difficult to see; in the wedding market, paper-cuts are monotonous due to their monotonous variety. , nothing new all year round, the price is always the sameIt hovers around ten yuan; in exhibitions or small commodity markets, except for a few works by famous artists, most products are engraved paper with monotonous patterns and rough workmanship that costs five to twenty yuan. Although these cheap and rough paper-cut products can meet the short-term needs of some folk markets during the New Year, they blur peoples understanding of Chinese folk paper-cuts in the tourism market, cultural collection market and gift market, especially for young children, Most consumer groups, including teenagers and international friends, do not know mid-range and high-end paper-cut works at all, and they are almost completely ignorant of paper-cut culture. Behind this situation, it may be due to the imperfection of the business system itself, but its consequences will undoubtedly reduce the image and quality of paper-cut art. In recent years, as some paper-cut artists and their works have begun to intervene in the commercial circle, some high-quality paper-cuts have fetched high prices in the market, and have also entered the commercial boutique area like other high-end handicrafts. However, in order to truly develop the paper-cut market in a healthy manner, more energy must be invested in the design, production, and sales system of paper-cut products. Through the continuous improvement of the market economic system, the commercialization and specialization of paper-cut products will gradually be formed.
