Curated by Wang Weiwei, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at CHAT, major group exhibition Lining Revealed – A Journey Through Folk Wisdom and Contemporary Vision delves into how traditional folk crafts, such as Indonesian weavings, Chinese silkscreen prints and Central Asian motifs, inspire contemporary art. The exhibition features 13 presentations by artists from across Asia, over half of which are newly commissioned works, featuring Ari Bayuaji (Indonesia), Salima Hakim (Indonesia), Han Mengyun (mainland China), He Yongdi (mainland China), Young In Hong (Korea), Kobayashi Nanao (Japan), Almagul Menlibayeva (Kazakhstan) and Suad Gara (Azerbaijan), Aziza Shadenova (Kazakhstan), Güneş Terkol (Turkey), Ye Funa (mainland China), Yim Yen Sum (Malaysia), Yiu Kwan Kit Ellen (Hong Kong) and Zhang Xu Zhan (Taiwan).
Among the works presented, Young In Hong’s Ring of Animals (2023) takes inspiration from traditional Korean straw weaving techniques. The artwork features straw-woven shoes crafted for five animals: giraffe, kangaroo, heron, gorilla and bear. Complementing the artist’s piece, CHAT will feature a series of straw-woven objects on loan from the Korean Museum of Straw and Life. Some of these artefacts, which date back more than 70 years, carry with them the cultural legacy of Korea’s rural communities and their deep connection to the land. Remarkably, this exhibition marks the first time these historical items will be displayed outside of Korea.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xu Zhan’s Musicians – Rabbit No.1 (2022) delves into the intricate medium of papercraft. Born into a family in Taiwan specialising in creating paper sculptures for religious rituals and funerals, Zhang Xu was deeply influenced by traditional Taiwanese papercraft techniques. In 2022, his short film with papercraft won the Best Animated Short Film award at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Awards.
Yiu Kwan Kit Ellen incorporates joss paper, commonly used in Chinese folk practices as burnt offerings for ancestral and deity worship, into her commissioned work This World and The Next (2024). With meticulous care, she folds each piece of paper, sewing and weaving the strips into a free-form, large-scale weaving, transforming the fragile material into a tangible, tactile presence.
Han Mengyun’s newly commissioned work The Unbearable Purity: Three Stories (2025) continues her Night Practice series. Drawing on Dong minority textiles, the work addresses themes of labour, oppression and creative power tied to femininity.
Departing from her previous installations, this piece projects video directly onto textiles treated with egg white. Visitors are invited to interact with the work by holding fans near the screen to sharpen the blurred projections, only to discover scenes of domestic chaos and endless labour, fostering a deeper, more immersive connection to its themes.
Press release from CHAT
Image: Han Mengyun. The Unbearable Purity: Three Stories. 2025. HD video, liangbu (glossy indigo fabric) made by Chinese Dong minority, cast aluminium tree branches,dong carpentry-inspired stainless steel benches, paper fans, video. 11 minutes and nine seconds. Installation view of Lining Revealed–A JourneyThrough Folk Wisdom and Contemporary Vision from CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile), Hong Kong, 2024. Commissioned by CHAT. Image courtesy of CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile), Hong Kong
