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Miao's Voice: Echoes of Heritage Bridging Chongqing and Britain

By QIHAI DENG|Jul 13,2025

Chongqing - The Chongqing Federation of Literary and Art Circles Art Museum unveiled "Miao's Voice: Transcontinental Resonance from Chongqing to the United Kingdom" on July 11. This groundbreaking photographic exhibition transforms cultural heritage into a living dialogue. Curated by youth artist Wang Yihan, this cross-continental journey presents 57 visual artifacts–photographs, films, field research, and tangible relics–tracing the invisible thread between Southwest China’s misty mountains and Britain’s hallowed museum halls.

"Miao's Voice: Transcontinental Resonance from Chongqing to the United Kingdom" was Unveiled at the Chongqing Federation of Literary and Art Circles Art Museum on July 11. (Photo/Deng Qihai)

In 2024, a young woman in resplendent Miao embroidery stood immovable as marble before the throngs at the V&A, Tate Modern, and Horniman Museums. Wang Yihan, then a postgraduate at Goldsmiths, University of London, turned her body into both artwork and manifesto. Her silent vigil announced the "Miao's Voice" project: a declaration that Miao culture belongs not to museum glass cases, but to the world’s vibrant cultural tapestry. "The catalyst for this creative impulse was a profound cultural reawakening I experienced in foreign lands," she reflects, "Studying in London, I found myself physically separated from everything familiar. This distance created a space where, witnessing diverse cultures commanding global attention on the world stage, I turned my gaze inward. It was then, suddenly clear as mountain air, that I saw the radiant brilliance of our cultural heritage."

Youth artist Wang Yihan guided guests through the photographic exhibition, sharing insights into her cross-cultural journey. (Photo/Deng Qihai)

Born in 1998 in Chongqing’s embrace, Wang harnessed her Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts training and London scholarship into a quest for cultural homecoming. Research revealed over a thousand Miao textiles and silverwork scattered across seven UK institutions. "Discovery sharpens longing," Wang notes. "Seeing how other cultures proudly projected their brilliance, I suddenly saw ours with fresh, fierce clarity." This awakening birthed her radical methodology: donning heirloom garments like wearable heritage, she inserted herself into museum collections as a living exhibit, transforming galleries into stages for cross-temporal conversations.

British Consul General in Chongqing Anthony Preston appreciated the photographic works on display. (Photo/Deng Qihai)

The exhibition unfolds this dual narrative. Chinese segments showcase Wang’s pilgrimages to Guizhou’s highland villages: intimate studies of wax-resist dye masters transferring constellations onto cloth, conversations with ageing songkeepers whose melodies map vanished landscapes. In counterpoint, UK documentation chronicles her meticulous audits of British holdings – beaded collars at Pitt Rivers Museum, indigo tunics at Bristol's archives – alongside spontaneous London street performances where Miao patterns ignited curiosity in cosmopolitan passersby.

Fifty-seven visual artifacts: photographs, films, field research, and tangible relics are presented during the exhibition. (Photo/Deng Qihai)

"This exhibition isn't merely a collection of artifacts. It represents something profoundly more vital," Wang emphasizes in her gallery remarks. "The resonant echoes of our heritage awakened in distant lands, now purposefully returned to the native soil that nurtured me. In this sacred space of home, these cultural reverberations submit themselves to the tender examination and attentive listening of the very people whose ancestors breathed life into them."

Visitors watched the photographic works with thoughtful appreciation. (Photo/Deng Qihai)

More than an exhibition, "Miao's Voice" becomes a living amplifier. Visitors witness century-old Miao cloths echoing their rich history; others linger over video recordings where Miao symbology dances with village elders’ explanations. "She didn’t just bridge geography," remarks one citizen of today's exhibition. "She composed a duet across time zones."

Running through July 14, the show offers neither political manifestos nor sentimental nostalgia. Instead, through the quiet potency of a young woman’s conviction and her community’s tangible artistry, it asserts a profound truth: Cultural beauty transcends geography when carried by sincere hands, and the enduring resonance between Chongqing’s highlands and Britain's institutions lingers, as haunting and hopeful as a half-remembered song.


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