Straw paintings are craft objects made by shaping straw into patterns and representational images. By modeling and playing with straw, people, especially women, started weaving straw into artistic objects. As time passed, they acquired more skill in working with straw and a century ago, created a very specific art, the art of weaving straw into pictures by using and combining the natural colours and shades of

oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

, rye,

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, and other grasses. These "paintings" have become a speciality of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, China,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and Subotica in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

and its vicinity. Kachi

China

Straw patchwork art is a Chinese folk art that dates back to the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(250—230 CE) and developed during Sui Dynasty of 581—618 CE. In China, it is a unique form of art from the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

. In ancient China, wheat was perceived as sacred; the wheat-straw patchwork were rare and were therefore only sent to the royal court as tribute. As early as in Eastern Han dynasty, wheat straw painting was made for worship practices in the royal court as wheat was considered an auspicious grass to pray for good fortune. The craft disappeared with time as a result of social unrest and historical changes and only officially returned during the Sui and Tang dynasties. In Sui dynasty, it was an imperial form of craft. During the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

(960—1127 CE), straw patchwork was enjoyed by royalty. The art was lost again in time, and later reappeared in the provinces of

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, and

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...

. In

, the art was revived in the 1960s when young artists were dispatched to

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

, Shandong,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

, and Shanxi to learn wheat painting and innovated the practice to make a form of wheat straw painting with Harbin characteristics. In

, the art was revived in 1980s by the folk artist, Liu Limin, a Henan resident, after many failed attempts.

Wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

straw is smoked, steams, whitening, dyed, cut, and altered in a myriad of procedures to fashion delicate representational works."Runchuan Arts and Crafts Co., Ltd."
''CCTV Directory.'' (retrieved 9 Jan 2010) Today wheat straw patchwork is a decorative art and popular item for tourists to China.

Mexico and southern California

, straw mosaics are known as "popotillo art," from the Spanish name for sacaton grass, ''

Sporobolus ''Sporobolus'' is a nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. The name ''Sporobolus'' means "seed-thrower", and is derived from Ancient Greek word (), meaning "seed", and the root of () "to throw", referring to the dispersion of ...

'', or ''popote de cambray''. The art form has

Precolumbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, t ...

roots."Papel Picado, Papel Amate, and Popotillo."
''Festival of Mexico.'' (retrieved 9 Jan 2010) The popotillo may also be a fusion of Chinese straw art and the Royal Aztec Feather Art; the Chinese influence may have come from the Chinese immigrants who were brought to Mexico in the late 1800s to build the Mexican train system and contributed to the cultural fusion in some aspects of life such as folk art and cuisine. The grass grows in states of Mexico, Morelos,

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

, and Puebla.

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

is the center of popotillo art, and several award-winning artists have formed a workshop, "Popotillo y Color," there. While common in the 19th century, popotillo art enjoyed the most popularity in the 1930s and 1940s in Mexico City. Popotillo workshops have been offered in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

by Francisco J Fraide."Popotillo art."
''Popular Arts Foundation.'' (retrieved 9 Jan 2011) The grass is first hand-dyed. Before European contact, exclusively

natural dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archa ...

s were used and the straw was soaked in ''

aguamiel Aguamiel ( literally ''agua'' "water" ''miel'' "honey") is the sap of the Mexican maguey plant which is believed to have therapeutic qualities. According to Native American histories, the process of obtaining aguamiel from maguey was first disc ...

'' or

agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

juice. Then the artist draws a design, which is then covered by a fine layer of "cera de Campeche," a special type of beeswax. The straw is then cut down to workable sizes, sometimes as fine as a single millimeter in length. The artist then carefully presses the pieces of straw into the beeswax. When the design is finished, a fixative is applied to protect the finished work.

References

External links

Popotillo Galeria
Artesania Mexicana
Marcela Brčić Kostić & Ljiljana Letić

HKPD Matija Gubec Tavankut

From Grain to Painting (film web site) {{DEFAULTSORT:Straw Paintings Handicrafts Straw art Chinese folk art Mexican art Serbian art Articles containing video clips

China

Mexico and southern California

See also

References

External links