community

Crafts Fair & Farmer’s Market

2019.01.30

In spring, the Linden Centre jointly hosted a Crafts Fair & Farmer’s Market with Chaimiduo Organic Farms at the Linden Commons. The theme of the event was traditional culture meets modern innovation. The goal of the event was to create a common sense of community between old and new Xizhou people. The venue, the Linden Commons, built in 1927, is a prime example of Xizhou’s ancient architecture, but is also a surprising mixture of traditional meets modern. The first and second courtyards are built in the Bai traditional residence style of “three rooms facing one reflecting wall,” while the third courtyard and grounds feature Western-style foreign buildings and gardens. This mixture of architecture reflects the tastes of the rich merchants and businessmen of Xizhou who traded abroad at that time. The crafts exhibited at the fair also fully reflected the integration and innovation of the old and the new. The crafts included: the centuries old art of tie-dye clothes with modern tailoring and styles; the woodblock print art called 甲马 jiama; and the impromptu playing and singing of Bai minority Dong Jing music, which inspired some modern dancing by guests.

For a community, the people who live in it are undoubtedly the most important part; they are responsible for developing history and culture, and essentially form its spirit. To showcase these people, the first courtyard of the fair featured a photography exhibition consisting of portraits of the “Humans of Xizhou.” The overall purpose of the fair was to promote a “sense of community” in the ancient town by celebrating the local people’s simple and healthy lifestyle, and at the same time welcoming the new Xizhou people to integrate into the community and explore their idea of the ideal country life.