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Silk Road Artist Beiping Guo posing in front of his oil painting, Claudia. (Nikao Media)

Beiping Guo, renowned Chinese artist talks about the East and West link through his art at the Silk Road Exhibition – An Art Journey from Xi’an to Vancouver.

In our interview with Guo, he explained how the Canadian West Coast inspired his painting and the difference between Chinese and Western art techniques.

SILK ROAD TODAY: Why did you choose Canada?

BEIPING GUO: Canada, its people and the landscape are beautiful.  Canada and China are really close and have strong ties and friendship.

SILK ROAD TODAY:  What is the connection between the Silk Road and Canada?

GUO: This exhibition and our visit here is like an extension of the Silk Road.  We cross the ocean from China to come here.

The Silk Road is a symbol of China’s interaction with the West.  It started from Chang’an and onward to Greece.  It’s a very long trade route.

SILK ROAD TODAY:  Would you consider this exhibit as part of the new Silk Road exchange?

GUO: Yes.  It’s our hope to do an exchange between China and Canada.  This year is the Canada-China Year of Tourism.

Xian has a long history.  Thirteen dynasties chose Xian as their capitals.  My major was Chinese ink art and painting.  I am also good with western art.

Oil painting has been practiced in China for 100 years.  One of our group’s tasks here is to learn western art.  Western art is reflected in our work here.

Silk Road Today - Artist Beiping Guo Blends East and West in Oil Painting

Chinese painting deems empty space as solid space, a Daoist and Buddhist influenced concept. (Nikao Media)

Our visit is to exchange art techniques.  My first painting over there has Chinese art influences because I didn’t put any colour in the background.

In Chinese painting, “less is more”, you leave a lot of blank space.  It’s very different from traditional western art that fills every inch of your work.

I try to integrate Chinese art with western art technique in my painting.

Guo’s Style of Art

Guo was featured on a special 32-episode TV series on East and West art in China.  He has done many lectures on how to combine East and West into one art work.

His paintings blend the simple and natural appeal of China’s Northwest Yellow Land and the delicate expression of humanity in western classical oil painting.

Guo’s work has won him many awards.  His work has been featured in prestigious venues including the National Museum of Fine Art in Beijing.

Guo is the current vice-president of the Oil Painting Academy at the Chinese National Academy of Painting, a tenured professor at the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, a doctoral advisor.

He is also a Chinese Oil Painting Society Director, Shaanxi Artists Association acting vice-chair and Huantu (Yellow Soil) Art School vice-president.

Lipont Place organized the Silk Road Exhibition held at their gallery in Richmond, British Columbia from March 29 – 31, 2018.

The exhibit also showcased the works of five other Western Chinese artists, namely: Lixian Zhang, Wangping Li, Guodong Han, Xiaoyang Yang, and Jianjun Ke.

The artists had the opportunity to practice their art; meet local artists, experiment with new materials, experience Canada’s beauty and capture it in their art during their 19-day tour of the west coast.

Vikings, what their burial attires reveal about their penchant for fashion and their connection to the Silk Road.

Vikings are known for being fearsome, seafaring warriors and skilled traders.  In Norway, their reign lasted 250 years.

Little was known about their taste for luxury goods such as silk, until the discovery of the Oseberg burial mound in 1904.  One of the two women found in the mound was thought to be Norwegian Queen Åsa of the Yngling clan.

On this Silk Road conversation, University of Oslo professor, Dr. Marianne Vedeler talks about the silk fragments found in the Oseberg ship burial.  How the elite Vikings adorn the luxurious fabric on their fashion accessories.

What her finds revealed about the Viking trade on the Silk Road and the value of silk in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages.

Interview with University of Oslo professor, Dr. Marianne Vedeler on the Vikings connection to the Silk Road

(TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW)

The transcript of the interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

SILK ROAD TODAY:  Thank you Dr. Marianne Vedeler for joining us on the Silk Road conversation this afternoon.

Can you tell us what your discovery in the Oseberg ship burial, about the Vikings and the connection to the Silk Road?

DR. MARIANNE VEDELER:  It’s very interesting to see all these silks in one single grave from the Viking Age found in Norway. It tells us all the raiding and trading that the Vikings did.

They went very far to get these silks.  Some of them are from Central Asia and some from the Byzantine area.

It also tells us about how the different traders met on their way and interpreted the silk in different ways.

Silk Road Today - Vikings Are More Fashionable Than You Thought

Replica Oseberg Ship at the Viking Ship Museum and silk fragments found at the Oseberg burial mound. (Johan Berge/Visitnorway.com/Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo)

We can see that it’s used in different ways in Central Europe and far up in the north, in Scandinavia.  The patterns and the mythology laying in the patterns are used differently in different areas.

Silk came to Scandinavia for the first time in the 9th century.  We know that because in the burials that archaeologists are excavated, we find silk for the first time in the 9th century.

I have studied silk from the 9th and 10th centuries and that’s the earliest silk was ever found in Scandinavia.

The Scandinavians didn’t have the technology or the raw materials to produce silk themselves.  It’s obviously imported from Central Asia and from a large Persian production area.

Scandinavian Countries Where Silk Was Discovered

SILK ROAD TODAY: Was it through the artifacts of the Oseberg burial site that contains silk or was it in other places in Scandinavia that silk was found.

VEDELER:  Silk from the 9th and 10th centuries have been found in 23 sites in a total of 94 graves spread all over Scandinavia.  In some core areas, we found a lot of silk.  Some silks spread all over, even high up in the north of Norway.

It’s also found in Denmark and Sweden and some places in Finland as well. The biggest find was actually the Oseberg burial site – it had the largest amount of silk.

Yes, the largest amount of silk and also the most varied in one single grave.  That is from Oseberg in Norway, and there we have a lot of different kinds of silk as well.  You not only have samitum or samite silk but also embroidery made of silk.

And they probably imported silk threads because we can see that textiles made in Oseberg area or the southern part of Norway both contain traditional North patterns. They have used threads of silk.

Silk Road Today - Vikings Are More Fashionable Than You Thought

Close up view of the silk threads (Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo)

Trade and Travel Route

SILK ROAD TODAY:  In your presentation earlier you spoke about how the silk was transported from the east to Scandinavia going through Russia and going through Central Asia.

Now, did the Viking ships actually travel all the way to Persia to get the goods or how did they travel… the route that they went.

VEDELER:   We don’t know this. Probably the silks have gone through different hands and different people along the way.

Probably people from both Scandinavia, from Central Asia and from the areas between have contributed to bringing the silks along the way.

How Was Silk Used ?

Silk is only found in the very rich graves in Scandinavia. The richest graves contained silk and it must have been very, very expensive. We can see that in a grave like Oseberg.

Two women were buried with a lot of different objects: 15 horses, four wagons, a lot of equipment, and yet the silk fragments are very tiny and small.

They were first used face on. Then when they were worn, they used the underside. That tells me that silk has been very, very precious at this time.

Silk were probably sewn on to tunics and headwear. But we don’t always see how this is done because the other parts of the garments are almost always gone.

So it’s difficult to see exactly how they were used but, they were probably used in tunics in life.  And then when they were buried, the richest people were clothed in this material.

It went from a garment used for daily life and was later transformed into a burial garment.  So that’s why the Viking ships from Oseberg is the world’s best preserved Viking ship in the world.

SILK ROAD TODAY:  Well, thank you very much doctor for sharing your insights on the silk discovery in the Oseberg burial site.

VEDELER:  Thank you.

Dr. Vedeler has published her discoveries in her book, Silk for the Vikings (Ancient Textiles) and it’s available for purchase online.

I have compared the silk found in Oseberg with other silk finds from the Viking Age in Scandinavia. There is a common pattern of distribution, use and origin in all of Scandinavia.

The use as well as the meaning of colours and patterns differs from what we see in the production areas and also from other parts of Europe.

Still, I argue that silk became a link between the aristocratic Christian Europe and the chiefs of the heathen North.

The silk should be seen as an actor in the political game of Scandinavian leaders in the Viking Age, connecting and associating them with leaders in other parts of Europe.

It`s economical and esthetical value and it`s value as an exotic object made it a useful actor on the political scene across ethnic and religious boundaries.

When these silks finally reached Scandinavia from Byzantine and Persia, they were regarded as extremely precious. This is expressed in many ways.

Only the richest and most highly ranked men and women were buried with silk. The fabrics were cut in narrow strips that were sewn onto clothing such as headwear and tunics.

In addition to the large ship, the two women buried in the Oseberg grave were provided with 15 horses, four wagons, a sledge and equipment for a whole house hold, among other things.

Yet, some of the samite silk strips sewn onto their clothing were first in use for a long time and then to be turned and sewn on again with the less used back side turning out.

By studying such grave findings carefully, we can conclude that these people were buried in clothing that they had used in life, and that silk was regarded as very valuable.

Silk Road Today - Lyon: The Heart of the European Silk Industry

Lyon is the go-to-place for high quality French silk. Fashion House Chanel and Birkin bag maker Hermes set up their manufacturing plants in the region.

Updated: October 05, 2018

Hermes is France’s biggest high-end and fully integrated silk manufacturer. Over 800 people work in their production centred in vicinity of Lyon, according to Reuters.

The thriving European silk trade in Lyon began as early as the 16th century. The French aristocrats’ appetite for high fashion and luxury goods fuelled a booming silk industry.

Luxury goods convey more than wealth and status in those days. It was about identifying the sources of sensory pleasure, which made silk an object of desire.

The canuts (silk workers) of Lyon lived and breathed silk for 500 years. Their legacy is painted on the walls in the Croix-Rousse district. The gigantic Mur des Canuts (canut mural) covering over 12,917 sq. feet is surmised to be Europe’s largest fresco.

Up on Rousse hill, Maison des Canuts, the district’s silk museum is the only place in Lyon to see working “Jacquard” hand looms.

Lyon is also known as the food capital of France, and the birthplace of celebrated French chef Paul Bocuse.

Interview with French Consul General Philippe Sutter on France’s connection to the Silk Road.

(TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW)

The transcript of the interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

SILK ROAD TODAY: Thank you, Consul General Sutter for joining us on the Silk Road conversation today. Consul, can you tell us a little bit about France’s connection to the ancient Silk Road. What are some of France’s contributions and influences along the Silk Road?

PHILIPPE SUTTER: The Silk Road trade is of course part of our common history. The iconic network of ancient trade routes has connected us, Asia, Europe and Africa, both by land and by sea. We value this contribution which benefited many civilizations over the centuries.

The Silk Road paved the way to global trade, rich cultural, technological and religious exchanges, and shaped our interconnected world of today. And it has been a game changer of the modern era.

SILK ROAD TODAY: How did France benefit from the ancient Silk Road?

SUTTER: I would say that the weaving of imported silk was first recorded in the 11th century in France. The first chestnut trees in my country were planted in Provence and in the Pyrenees at the same period. And silk production seems to have started also in south of France.

Silk Road Today - Lyon: The Heart of the European Silk Industry

Beautiful silk scarves made using medieval looms.(Masion des Canuts)

In this event, at the end of the 13th century, it was French King Charles VII, the Duke of Burgundy and their successors who participated so vigorously, through markets, trades… Brussels, Amsterdam, Lyon and other towns.

All these fostered trade, business, and above all understanding, tolerance and respect for one another. And these are values that we share, and that we have to protect together.

France’s Silk History

The Silk Road trade with France dates actually back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Silk Road trade contributed to the mercantile transformation of Western Europe including France.

The practice of emulating Asian silk styles was institutionalized in Lyon. With the development of initiatives and imitating Chinese motifs, what we call nicely, chinoiserie. From the 16th century, all fine fabrics travelling the Silk Road, from Asia to Europe would end up in Lyon’s warehouses.

And the next century, the 17th century, there were over 10,000 looms in this city, which cemented Lyon status as the global centre for silk weaving. In fact, Lyon was a well-known centre of silk manufacturing and trade for 500 years, here in France.

And in 1801, pioneering engineer, Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a mechanical loom which would rapidly industrialized silk weaving… and this was the beginning of the real revolution. It’s a very important kind of business.

On a personal note, I would say and mention that my father created in Alsace in the 60s, some years ago, some Jacquard patterns, which I still have today.

Silk Road Today - Lyon: The Heart of the European Silk Industry

Croix-Rousse district silk museum, Masion des Canut offers guided tours and workshops for visitors to discover five centuries of Lyon’s silk industry. (Maison des Canuts)

Places to Visit

I would specially mention Lyon. Lyon is located in east central France in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region. It’s actually the second largest city after Paris and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The city of Lyon was once the capital of European silk trade. And Lyon’s rich cultural life and its silk history is still very vibrant and can be seen in its museums, including the silk museum of course, and the fabric museum, very impressive. I recommend you to pay a visit to these institutions after seeing, of course, their very useful websites.

I would add the neighbourhood of Croix Rousse in Lyon which was at the heart of the city’s booming 19th century silk industry, and also the L’Atelier de Soieri, a historical manufacturer, which is also amazing.

As in other cities and villages in France, you will find the also in Lyon, the perfect combination and mixture of culture, gastronomy and quality of life.

Come and see for yourself.

You are Most Welcome!