Life of Samplers
I presented at the conference ACHS 2020 FUTURES on the ethnographic research with the Tin Miao people. The conference was held by the Association of Critical Heritage Studies on August 26-30, 2020. We are honoured to be able to exchange with the global community of heritage studies.
Paper abstract: The focus on cultural transmission through the life of the mundane object, tin embroidery samplers, is an act of paying respect to the female makers behind the intangible heritage craft owned by the Tin Miao people group. This paper examines how such missing object in museums is crucial in recording and transmitting the Tin Miao culture as well as the potential impacts on the heritage craft during modernisation and the rise in its popularity amongst collectors. Through ethnographic research over 2019 in the source region of the British Museum’s relevant collection established in the 1990s, it records oral traditions from actors involved in sampler creating and collecting. The samplers are identified as materials purposed to embody cultural heritage and tools for safeguarding and assisting the passing on of such knowledge.
