An outdoor digital display depicting “The Story of Rummy” spans the front of the building. … [+]
China is now one of the world’s largest textile manufacturers, accounting for 43% of global exports in 2022. The 2024 Forbes Rich List, with 406 mainland Chinese on the list, is peppered with leaders in the textile and apparel industry. Led by Chinese billionaire Sky Xu, Shein is one of the world’s most popular fast fashion websites.
A new digital exhibit on the outdoor façade of the Institute of Science and History in a historic neighborhood in downtown Philadelphia is a reminder that the country’s textile manufacturing and export success is not all that new.
Titled “The Story of Ramie,” the exhibition features 18 watercolors from five books on 19th-century Chinese art, tracing the use of ramie from soil preparation to finishing. Ramie is a vegetable fiber found in ancient tombs in the Middle East, and entrepreneurial China was a big exporter of ramie fabrics in the 19th century. “Such albums are designed to appeal to overseas buyers and promote greater appreciation of ramie as a high-tech, high-end fabric made by skilled artisans,” says the institute’s introductory video.
The paintings celebrating the birth of linen textiles were created between 1830 and 1860, during the turmoil of the Opium Wars in Guangdong province, China’s export hub at the time and still is. Unlike the lavish artworks sold to the wealthy in Europe, artist Sun Jia created these paintings for diplomats and those staying in what is now Guangzhou for a relatively short time, and who were in a hurry to leave with memories of their country in their hearts, says curator Lisa Berry Drago. Over the course of his decades of life, Sun Jia produced artwork that dealt with social themes, particularly the corruption of the individual through opium addiction, the most pernicious drug of his time.
Some of the ramie on display has a blue color, suggesting it was dyed with indigo, a dye made from the leaves of a shrub that has been cultivated and used in Asia for over 1,000 years and is still used today for blue jeans.
As well as highlighting China’s early successes, Drago said the paintings focus on people as well as textiles, evoking a piece that’s missing from much of the discussion of textile manufacturing today: the human element.
“The reason I love these albums is that for me, weaving has always been … [+]
“We live in a very globalized system where we never get a glimpse of the people who make our clothes, and that’s kind of by design. We’re not supposed to think about the people who make our clothes. I love these albums because, to me, they’re a very strong reminder that making textiles has always been labor-intensive and high-tech,” Drago said.
Ramie is still used today as an alternative to synthetic fibres such as polyester and nylon, and as a natural, biodegradable fibre that offers buyers sustainability when purchasing, she said.
“The Story of Ramie” is part of a larger collection and exhibit at the Philadelphia facility that focuses on science and technology, and also explores the evolution of synthetic fibers like nylon through the history of companies like DuPont and Gore-Tex.
The outdoor Lamy exhibit will close in October 2024.
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