Baobei: The Keeper

We spent much of our time in Guizhou seeking out the people who make things. But there is another crucial part of craft's survival: the people who value it. 

Liu Yong has spent more than fifty years as an artist, researcher and collector of the ethnic art of Guizhou. His home feels endless: his own paintings and sculptures alongside more bronze, textiles, woodcarvings and objects gathered over a lifetime. There were stacks upon stacks of boxes filled with art we never even peered inside.

Liu Yong doesn't only collect. He studies the histories and cultures these objects come from, then shares that knowledge with others. By his side were apprentices and university students, eager to study, listen and learn. Today, his collection extends beyond his home to the Liu Yong Art Museum in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou.

It made us think about an often overlooked part of preserving tradition today. Ways of living change, and the need for traditional craft changes with them. People are no longer making only for themselves. And as fewer people make these things, those who continue to value them become all the more important.

Craft needs makers. But today, it also needs an audience. People who want to study it, collect it, teach it and live with it. Liu Yong represents that other side of Guizhou craft: the keeper of what others have created.

What is made must also be valued.

Shop what we collected along the way.

Creative Direction: Kelly Wang Shanahan (@theziran)
Videography: Jess Foley (@fauxly)
Video Editing: Jhonson Phielipus (@jjnnxx2250)

Shot in Guizhou, China. April 2024.