Transforming peacock dancing of Dai in Xishuangbanna to ceramic installation arts

Abstract

Dai pottery is one of the four famous potteries in China. It is a Chinese intangible cultural heritage and constitutes the spiritual home of the Dai people. However, with the rapid economic development, fewer young people are willing to make Dai pottery. With the invasion of ceramic culture in various regions, Dai pottery has become similar with other ceramics but needs more cultural awareness of the Dai people; traditional Dai pottery itself limits the form of Dai pottery due to the primitiveness of the artistry. Peacock dance is the most famous classical performing art among the Dai people in Xishuangbanna. Dai people take the peacock as a kind of auspicious bird, symbolizing beauty, and kindness, which is primitive totem worship, reflecting the Dai people's yearning for a better life. The purpose of this research is to spread Dai culture through ceramic artwork, remind the younger generation to pay attention to Dai pottery, and develop Dai pottery; to encourage the craftsmen in local keep focus on Dai culture; to an awareness that the government pays attention to Dai community and Dai minority. The objectives are 1. To analyze the culture of the Dai nationality, organize and summarize the catalog of creative elements; 2. To extract the peacock eye element on its tail and create prototypes of ceramic works; 3. To propose the new value of Dai pottery through installation art form and spread the Dai culture. There are three research methods in this research. The first is a literature review of peacock meaning, a field trip to Xishuangbanna for peacock dance performance collection, and an in-depth interview with the peacock dance and Dai pottery stakeholder group to get critical data on the transfer of peacock dance to ceramic art. The second is to analyze the traditional and modern Dai peacock dance elements by comparative study; express the peacock icon through experiments. The third is developing the design into an installation artwork with sound and movement in space. The result of the research shows that the peacock eye element as a peacock dance icon to create artwork conveys Dai culture; the ceramic artwork can be used as a musical instrument to express melody; The installation of ceramic artwork emphasizes sound in the space combined with light and shadow can spread Dai culture according to the theory of cultural communication.

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