NANCHANG, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) — Copper engraving, or copper carving, a craft of carving patterns on copper wares, has a historical past of about 1,000 years. In 2021, Guixi copper engraving was listed as one of many national-level intangible cultural heritages.
The craft wants over 150 totally different sorts of knives and a dozen of carving abilities to create a whole art work, and the copper ware has to undergo over 100,000 occasions of hammering earlier than being become an beautiful art work.
Huang Junjun, 55 years previous, is a consultant heir of Guixi copper engraving, who has been taking the work for 36 years. “My grandpa was a copper ware craftsman, for whom I often acted as an assistant during childhood. I was fascinated with the ancient art,” stated Huang.
As from 1989, he travelled all around the nation to hunt for masters to review the artwork, and likewise labored at factories in Shanghai and Nanchang to sharpen his abilities. Morever, he absorbed copper engraving strategies of Japan and South Korea into his personal.
“It came to me when I was working that if the craft can’t be applied to our daily life, people can’t see its value, not to say preserve and inherit it,” stated Huang Junjun. In 2000, he arrange a copper art work studio, receiving orders from all around the nation. For his glorious craftsmanship, Huang gained fame within the circle and even obtained orders from Japan and Singapore.
In 2012, with the assistance of native authorities of Guixi City, which strove to develop itself underneath the title of “city of copper”, Huang based the Jiangxi Zhongding steel art work firm. In order to enhance the work effectivity, he created a manufacturing mode which mixes the work of machines with that of craftsmen.
Nowadays, Huang Junjun has cultivated over 200 skilled craftsmen in copper engraving, and has over 30 artworks honored in varied nationwide and provincial exhibitions. His copper artworks are offered worldwide. He is assured in the way forward for his craft, “I hope my artworks not only embody the ancient styles of handmade metal accessories, but also reflect the aesthetic concepts of modern life, so as to let the art into the daily life of our common people.”