"Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" Longquan Celadon Tour in New York

NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. In line with "The Belt and Road" initiative and for the important deployment of "Cultural Zhejiang", the 2018 Longquan Celadon Exhibition Tour - New York Station, "Intangible Cultural Heritage - Chinese Classic", sponsored by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Lishui Municipal People's Government and undertaken by the Longquan Municipal People's Government of Zhejiang Province, will be held on the 4th floor of the United Nations Headquarters Building in Manhattan on September 10. A total of 85 celadon treasures from 81 Longquan celadon artists will be exhibited at this event.

The 2018 Longquan Celadon Exhibition takes the "Maritime Silk Road" as its starting point and is divided into three sections: "Origin", "Flowing" and "Integration", fully interpreting Longquan celadon's culture and creating a road of "celadon, openness and glory". "Origin" tells the extensive history of celadon through traditional celadon artworks supplemented by a hand-painted traditional celadon firing process chart. The "Flowing" section shows the endless vitality of Longquan celadon through storyboards of modern celadon artworks (mainly works by young and middle-aged artists) and important international activities involving Longquan celadon.  "Integration" mainly focuses on celadon handicrafts such as tea sets, tableware, stationery, flower utensils, incense utensils, and jewelry. Through tea ceremony, tea party and life scene displays, the audience can experience the charm of celadon and eastern-styled life.

After the completion of the exhibition at United Nations Headquarters, a week-long exhibition will also be held in Soho District, New York, and a group of enterprises will be organized to promote celadon products and sign a celadon sales cooperation agreement with U.S. enterprises. It not only promotes "Intangible Cultural Heritage" culture, but also brings Longquan celadon products to the international market.

Longquan is located in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, China, where Longquan people create beautiful Longquan celadon. Longquan celadon originated from the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty, flourished in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and has resurged in the contemporary era. It is a famous historical ceramic with the longest firing time, the largest number of kiln sites, the largest production scale and the widest export range of all Chinese ceramics. As the process passed on from generation to generation for more than 1600 years, Longquan celadon has developed four unique skills: preparing celadon glaze, applying the glaze several times, firing thick glaze and controlling cracked glaze. In 2009, Longquan celadon's traditional firing technique was listed by UNESCO in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and it is also the only ceramic project in the world listed so far.

Longquan celadon is a classic of Chinese culture. It regards "harmony between heaven and man" as its aesthetic ideal and "Compare Virtue to Jade" as its value orientation, reflecting the beauty of "harmony" and "perfection". Historically, Longquan celadon was the cultural messenger of China's exchange with the world. In the Song, Yuan and early Ming dynasties, Longquan celadon had a leading role in the development of the long Maritime Silk Road. Products are exported to more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, connecting China closely with the world. In recent years, Longquan has intensified its foreign exchange of celadon culture. Longquan celadon has shined at the Shanghai World Expo, World Internet Conference, the APEC meeting in Beijing, the G20 Hangzhou Summit, "The Belt and Road" Forum for International Cooperation Summit and other international conferences. It has been widely recognized by politicians and celebrities from all walks of life.

Longquan celadon has resurged in modern times. Longquan City takes the path of cultural promotion and industry interaction - fully exploring the market and industry attributes of celadon culture; organically integrating fashion elements; increasing the development of celadon tourism commodities, creative and daily celadon; and promoting the integration and development of the celadon industry with cultural creativity, film and television animation, tourism, tea industry and other industries to inject new life into the celadon culture industry. Longquan's celadon town, founded around celadon culture, is a pioneering and innovative platform for building the "celadon" industrial chain, and has now become a place for Chinese and foreign potters and tourists to view, experience and exchange Longquan celadon. At present, there are about 16,000 people in Longquan engaged in the celadon industry, 1,451 celadon production and business companies, and 14 national celadon masters. The celadon industry has achieved an industrial output value of RMB 2.121 billion.

SOURCE Publicity Department of the CPC Longquan Municipal Committee