China News Service, Xi'an, September 11th: "Gen Z" shadow puppet artists: Perseverance and innovation, dancing "old art" to interpret "new life"
Author Li Yifan Alina
"People give life to shadow puppets, and shadow puppets also interpret the colorful lives of artists. Shadow puppets are inherited, and I have been on the road of perseverance and innovation." Sun Wei, the fifth-generation inheritor of Shaanxi Sun's shadow puppets, told a reporter from Chinanews.com .
Sun Wei was born in the family of Sun's shadow puppets. The Sun's Shadow Puppet Club has a history of more than 100 years. The current "head" is Sun Wei's grandfather, Sun Jingfa, and the old man is the inheritor of Xi'an municipal intangible cultural heritage.
Sun Wei's father is also engaged in shadow puppetry.
Influenced by the family atmosphere since childhood, Sun Wei also has a soft spot for shadow puppetry. Sun Wei began to formally learn shadow puppet production and performance at the age of the dance spoon.
The picture shows Sun Wei performing a shadow play.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
The reporter saw at Sun Wei's workplace that he was holding the carving knife with concentration, pushing the skin smoothly, and carefully engraving the shadow puppet of the animated tiger image.
He is now proficient in playing, pulling, playing and singing in shadow puppet performances, and is best at "picking" performance skills. He has been invited to perform in various places for many times.
Compared with his parents, 25-year-old Sun Wei has the same sense of mission to stick to traditional shadow puppet skills, but has a different fresh and unique perspective.
In order to let shadow puppets get rid of the current predicament and keep up with the trend of the times, Sun Wei tried to make children better accept the "bowl and bowl" shadow play. For this reason, Sun Wei combined shadow play with popular cartoons.
The picture shows Sun Wei making shadow puppets.
Photo by Li Yifan
He walked into the campus many times with his unique shadow puppetry. During the performance, there were many lights and shadows, and all kinds of vivid characters on the screen were dizzying; "Find out."
Shadow puppets also show their charm in the blend of tradition and modernity, creating interesting sparks in the "new bridge" built by Sun Wei.
Sun Wei has been thinking about the innovation and transformation of shadow puppets.
He said that the content expressed in traditional art should develop with the times, interpret the "new life" of "in progress", liven up the "old art" in the eyes of people, and shorten the sense of distance between the people and traditional skills.
The picture shows Sun Wei showing his shadow play.
Photo by Li Yifan
During the epidemic, the short video "Shadow puppets call you to do nucleic acid" made by Sun Wei became popular on major online platforms. The form of shadow puppets was paired with the localized Shaanxi dialect dubbing, which made the art of shadow puppets closer to public life.
"I want to pass on the shadow puppet skills well and make more people fall in love with shadow puppetry. I always feel that there is a heavy burden on my shoulders. No matter whether it is difficult or not, I will continue to work hard on the road of shadow puppet inheritance and innovation in the future." Sun Wei said that he will continue To discover the "connection point" between shadow puppets and life, we must not only inherit traditional skills, but also make good use of the new ideas of "Gen Z" to give new life to shadow puppets.
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