It’s hard to believe these beautiful textiles are made by hand-drawing layers of melted wax on fabric then repeatedly dying it in carefully tended indigo vats.
Jieyi Ludden Zhou, a Chinese American teacher and artist living in Shanghai, co-curated the show “East/West Batik and Beyond” to highlight the traditional heritage of crafts of women in China, including Ninghang’s Batik as well as the women-only Nüshu script from Hunan and ceramic arts of the Li people in Hainan. Zhou learned batik from the women of Ninghang and contributed several of their own original works to the show. They hope to bring increased visibility and recognition to traditional arts like batik, that are too often undervalued by academia and the fine arts establishment.
Real Change sat down with Zhou to learn more about Miao batik and other Chinese women’s traditional heritage arts. Although the show is now over, people can still find the Ninghang Batik collective’s work on their website at ninghang.carrd.co.
The Village Market 
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