Baobei: Memory on Hands

There are people who make. And then there are people who spend their lives trying to understand what has been made.

For more than twenty years, Wang Xiaomei has traveled through the villages of Guizhou, studying, collecting and documenting the textiles, batik, motifs and stories of its many ethnic communities. Her research became Memory on Hands, and eventually, a museum by the same name.

Walking through the museum with Xiaomei felt different from our other encounters. The objects here are meticulously organized, archived and studied. These are some of my favorite things the Miao believe that Xiaomei shared with us:

“Fish and birds have been together for thousands of years. Humans come from fish. When people die, the birds fly to heaven and tell the spirit world.”

On the significance of baby carriers, worn on a mother's back: "What is on the back is the connection to the spiritual world and heaven. It must be protected every day.” 

"The Miao believe that when they die, they become the rays of the sun. That is what the swastika represents." 

What at first looks like decoration, under Xiaomei's reverent and knowledgeable eyes, transform into deeply meaningful symbols. 

Yet Xiaomei also spoke about what happens when the motif survives, but its meaning does not. For example, today she sees artisans who reproduce, "copy," patterns that have been passed down for generations... without necessarily knowing the stories or beliefs behind them. The making continues, even as some of the knowledge within it has disappeared.

This is why Xiaomei's work is important. Because she isn't only collecting objects: she is documenting and contextualizing the knowledge held within them. Through the museum and her Blue Flower Narrative project, she also works with artisans, helping them understand and stay connected to the deeper meanings behind what they make.

A motif can be copied for generations. But without its story, what exactly is being carried forward?

Shop what we collected along the way.

Creative Direction + Photography: Kelly Wang Shanahan (@theziran)
Shot in Guizhou, China. April 2024.