On May 9th, the School of Marine Science and Engineering held an appreciation and handicraft experience activity of Shanghai velvet embroidery with the theme of Shanghai Ingenuity and Aesthetics in Intangible Cultural Heritage Velvet Embroidery. Master Bao Yanhui, a senior Chinese arts and crafts artist and the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage velvet embroidery project, walked into the one-stop community and led teachers and students to feel the charm of traditional crafts and understand the profound heritage of Shanghai-style culture through intangible cultural heritage tours and skill practices.
During the event, Bao Yanhui took Oil Painting on the Tip of a Needle as the theme and systematically sorted out the century-old development process of Shanghai velvet embroidery. From the 19th century European court craft to the 20th century into the Shanghai style of innovative transformation, from the Great Hall of the People huge velvet embroidery The Motherland to the fashion cross-border design works, a classic case shows the sublimation of velvet embroidery from traditional skills to cultural business cards. The teachers and students at the scene were amazed by the light and shadow technique of writing with needles in the embroidery of Night View of the Bund in Shanghai, and were deeply touched by the craftsman spirit of the embroidery girls who split silk thousands of times and walk millions of needles.
In the practical session, Bao Yanhui personally demonstrated the basic techniques of velvet embroidery. The students used the panda pattern as a template to learn skills such as tic-tac-toe stitching and horizontal needle wrapping, and experienced the ingenuity of one stitch and one line. From being in a hurry to getting better, the participants realized the wisdom of traditional craftsmanship to turn defects into unique beauty in the interlacing of needles and threads. The event also exhibited innovative works that integrate velvet embroidery, leather and home furnishing, showing the contemporary vitality of intangible cultural heritage skills.
The 2025 Shanghai Cultural Experience Month is divided into three sections: appreciating maritime art, tasting the tip of the tongue, and climbing Made in Shanghai. As an important activity for appreciating maritime art, this velvet embroidery experience combines skill inheritance with cultural education. The teachers and students not only felt the subtlety of intangible cultural heritage skills up close, but also understood the spiritual core of Shanghai-style culture of openness, inclusiveness, and excellence through hands-on practice. In the future, the college plans to make good use of the one-stop community platform to continue to carry out intangible cultural heritage experience and cultural salons, promote intangible cultural heritage to take root on campus, and help young students become inheritors and innovators of excellent traditional culture.
Text: Li Zhiyuan, He Haibo; Photo: Wu Yuhui
Figure 1 Explanation of velvet embroidery culture
Figure 2 Explanation of velvet embroidery culture
Figure 3 Hands-on experience
Figure 4 Hands-on experience
Figure 5 Hands-on experience
Figure 6 Group photo