Mr. Wei: A Story of Lifelong Craftsmanship, Friendship, and a Hidden Art Village

In November 2016, I began a two-year journey in a remote, mountainous, and impoverished village to help establish an international art village. I decided to renovate an abandoned, 30-year-old house into a personal "Craftsmen House". The labor was intense, requiring me to transport construction materials up steep terrain without roads, often relying on natural, local materials. Despite the hardship, I was captivated by the pristine, untouched beauty of the area.
Amidst this, I met Mr. Wei, a 78-year-old man who became my best friend and the person I respect most. We shared a profound bond, solidified by simple meals, shared journeys to town, and my gift of handmade sunglasses which he treasured deeply. Mr. Wei is a master craftsman who built his own house, tended to his farm with an ox, and managed a self-sufficient life involving vegetable gardening and brewing his own wine. He was incredibly strong and helped me expand my attic.
The turning point in our friendship was when I realized Mr. Wei’s incredible, innate talent for innovation. After watching us work, he created two intricate, unique bamboo storage baskets, designing new, complex, and delicate techniques entirely on his own. Seeing this, I was moved and immediately sought to refine his designs for a higher-end, premium, and polished look. I have always hoped to provide him with a lighter, safer, and more sustainable livelihood, and these bamboo-woven masterpieces are the key to giving him a better quality of life and a legacy of artistry in his later years.
Now, I want to fulfill a special wish of his: to see his daughter, who lives far away in my hometown, and to fly in a plane for the first time. I plan to support him in this, potentially using a crowdfunding campaign for his travel expenses to visit his daughter and, perhaps, to see Beijing, bringing me along to ensure his comfort.


 

I often invite him for meals, and also take meals with him, as we are often alone. He usually has simple and plain food, but we experienced joyful time when we had meal together.

We often drive to town together, even when he has no intention in the town. He was willing to be my companion to the town.

He is a great craftsman, being able to build houses. Before being transformed into Craftsmen House, the house on this site was originally built by him for his eldest son.

And this house was built by him.

He can repair the roof, climbing up to the roof tops to re-arrange and replace old tiles.

He is a professional ploughman. Once the ploughing season comes, he would work with his ox for two weeks. This was hard work, but could bring him income of two thousand rmb. It is really laborious.  In addition, he had to cut grass to feed the ox, in case the ox may run about and destroy others’ crops.

He and his ox walking pass my grass-decorated installation on the wall.

He takes care for the vegetable garden and is self-sufficient.

He also used rice and corn to make local wine.

Located in the mountainous area, the soil of this village is quite barren, but it is suitable for growing corns. Every year, Mr. Wei grows hundreds of kilograms of corns, to feed the oxen and cows, roosters and hens, and for making wine.

We peeled the corns together.

Mr. Wei is strong enough to carry up to 40 kilograms. He also participated in the extending the attic of Craftsmen House.

However, what surprised me most was that, after simply looking at us making bamboo-weaving bags, he successfully made two exquisite bamboo-woven storage baskets all by himself after going back home. Previously, he had only used bamboo to weave some rough agricultural instruments and cages for everyday need. When he showed them to me, I was so surprised that almost jumped out of my chair, as he virtually designed two new styles, both was delicate, and one of them was woven by a technique initiated by him. I was very excited and provided some advice for visual and detailed improvement; the products will be nicer and more refined. I was happy because I was always thinking about offering an easy job for him, so that he would not have to do those heavy and dangerous physical works in the future. At the same time, I hope to sell his bamboo-woven work to help him make more money and improve his life. Above all, the most important thing is that he has followed his own heart and has achieved a great breakthrough in craftsmanship. His late life will not be tired and boring any more.

He was splitting the bamboos into thin strips. Hasn’t done this for over 20 years, he was still skilled at it.

We are processing the bamboo at the terrace of Craftsmen House.

In fact, he was not so well-educated. However, he has always tried to create and innovate. In this sense, he is doing better than most young people in the village. Though I’m good at innovation, I still admire him much.

Then he seemed like to be addicted. He designed a new fruit basket yesterday when I visited him, which was special and practical use.

Last year, he told me that he had a wish, which was to see his youngest daughter, who was now living in my hometown because of marriage. The distance between these two places is so long that he can only see his daughter every few years. He also hoped to go there by plane, as he has never travelled by air in his life. I promised to go with him and pay for his flight, and drive him to the city where his daughter stays (my hometown is the provincial capital, about 4 hours’ distance from his daughter’s city). He was reluctant to accept my kind offer, thinking it inappropriate for me to pay for these, though I could insist doing this. However, today I seem to find a way of helping him that would be more acceptable for him. I thought of the charity crowd funding on Indegogo, and hope to raise the travelling expense for him to visit his daughter and live there for some time (the city his daughter is living in is in the developed area, so the living cost is relatively higher). At the same time, I also hope to help him to realize the dreaming of visiting Beijing. For safety consideration, I will go to Beijing with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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