Papercraft culture communication and forum
Q：Why do you work as a papercraft artisan despite the fact that papercraft is a sunset industry?
A：Ms. Wan-Yin Zhang and her younger brother Xu-Zhan Zhang didn’t intend to inherit the family business at first. When they were little, they were mocked by classmates as “making skeletons at home” since their father made a living with papier mâché. Some classmates were afraid of passing through the Zhang family’s door. Therefore, the brother and sister didn’t identify with the industry at first.
Since they needed to help the family business when as children, they were imbued with the techniques. As the papercraft industry kept declining, “Xinxing papier mâché shop” run by their father were at the verge of closing. Ms. Zhang has worked at different jobs. Looking back, she discovered that papier mâché is a very unique industry. There are tens of her elders and relatives working in this industry, and they may be all the papier mâché in Taipei. Therefore, Ms. Wan-Yin Zhang and her younger brother Xu-Zhan Zhang determined to preserve and promote this craft.
Q：In which ways do you enable people to learn about papercraft culture?
A：As the traditional craft being rediscovered, Ms. Wan-Yin Zhang, her brother Xu-Zhan Zhang and illustrator Ju-Ju Chan founded “Xinxing Papier Mâché Culture.” They combine paper cut with local stories to promote the culture in art lessons at elementary schools. They also hold workshops and publish picture books. They hope to teach people about various elements in papercraft during the DIY process. For example, paper figures appearing inside of paper houses for the deceased known as “paper servants”. Few people know that they have a lot of different roles. Therefore, they introduce the knowledge to the public and encourage people to create new characters for paper servants.
In order to learn about people’s perspectives on traditional papercraft, we invited the art teacher who hold culture events on campus and a female who has working experience in the funeral business to talk about their perspectives on the current development of papercraft in Taiwan. 
Discussion on drafting the outline of the interview
a teacher on campus
Q：What’s your impression on papercraft?
A：Papercraft can be seen in funerals and temple fairs in everyday life. Sometimes a whole ship of papercraft artifacts would be sent to the beach to be burned. This kind of Wang Yeh Boat-burning festival are held in Changhua.
Q：Why is the folk activity of burning papercraft become less common nowadays?
A：In the past, religion activities were more prevalent. Besides, as the environmental awareness rises, burning papercraft can cause air pollution, so they become less and less common. Only families of the deceased buy papercraft products nowadays.
Q：Do you think it is possible to make more people learn about papercraft? How should it be promoted?
A：I once saw a young man who manufacture papercraft artifacts at home on YouTube, transforming traditional papercraft artifacts into art. I think passing down the traditions and making new innovations are for the purpose of preservation and making the whole world see papercraft. It is possible to manufacture papercraft artifacts in different forms, which is the same as the application of little house model in miniature art.
an elderly
Q：Do you have any specific impression on papercraft?
A：Papercraft artifacts are applied in funerals, but it is likely that people nowadays no longer use it. People from the older generation use papercraft artifacts when holding funerals. They are often seen next to the memorial tablets at the funeral parlor.
Q：Do you think it is possible to promote and share this culture with more people, reminding them of it?
A：To promote papercraft culture nowadays is not an easy task. When Catholicism and Christianity spread to Taiwan, they more or less affected the traditional religions in Taiwan. Only people who believes in Buddhism and Taoism have the habit of worshiping the deceased with papercraft artifacts, creating a mixture of religions.
an art teacher
Q：Have you heard of papercraft as a kind of art?
A：I have created art work with paper. Papercraft art can be classified as Taiwanese folk culture, so it is less common in foreign countries.
Q：Do you know when did papercraft culture starts to prevail in Taiwan?
A：As for Taiwan, papercraft are more common in festivals. However, papercraft has become a rare minority now. Papercraft culture has innovated with the time, combining objects of modern life such as Benz, mansions, tablets, smart phones and so on. They no longer present only in the form of traditional boy and girl attendants of fairies or three-section compounds. Spreading abroad, papercraft art usually present in the form of modern art work. This is because there are no traditional arts like us abroad. Papercraft culture is our unique traditional craft and culture in Taiwan.
Q：Have you ever made art work with papercraft? Do you know the methods or materials?
A：I have not made it before, but I once manufactured lanterns for the Lantern festival, for some of my relatives work in the relevant industry. The process resembles papercraft culture, constructing the structure with bamboo and paste paper onto it afterwards.
English teacher from Qatar With English ppt
In addition, we also made a English ppt to introduce Taiwanese papercraft culture to foreign teachers at school, conducting cultural communication.
Q：After listening to the presentation, what perspectives do you have on papercraft? What’s your first impression?
A：I think papercraft should be passed on and well-reserved, for it is the essence of Chinese culture. However, it should be noticed that burning papercraft artifacts may cause air pollution and greenhouse effect, so papercraft artifacts should not be burned in a considerable amount.
Q：I think papercraft should be passed down and be preserved well as it is the essence of Chinese culture. However, burning papercraft artifacts can lead to air pollution and the greenhouse effect, so they should not be burned in a considerable number.
A：I was from Qatar, and there is a visual style called Islamic art. It is not presented with paper, but with various forms such as architecture, calligraphy, painting and pottery. For example, there is vivid decorative patterns on the walls of Masjid, with patterns of plants and flowers on the colorful tiles.
Prologue: reflections
During the interviews, we learned that most teachers came from abroad have no previous knowledge regarding papercraft. However, they are all fascinated with the functions of papercraft and its modern transformation, suggesting that this Taiwanese culture should pass on and let the whole world know.
Tony
Hello everyone, I am Tony and my dream is to get a good result in the International CyberFair.I wanted to sign up for the Cyber Fair because I only played games at home, but in my spare time I would talk about places near my home, which made me interested in research, so I wanted to join International CyberFair to develop my skills and talent. In this International Cyberfair, I learned how to make paper art more elegant, and let me learn how to get down to it. My hobby is doing math questions at home. Doing math can solve my troubles and pains all over my body.
Kiki Liu.
Hello, my name is Kiki Liu. I’m Twelve years old this year. My dream is to become an illustrator and writer. My favorite things are playing video games, high altitude exploration, and eating food. I originally signed up for International CyberFair because I thought the course content of this club was very interesting. I was really in a hurry. Of course, my intuition was very precise and very interesting. I have gained a lot since joining this club. Writing and typing skills have improved, but I'm still learning how to find information. I learned the knowledge that only the Internet World's Fair can provide. For example: the stages of paper wrapping, the history of wrapping paper, the culture of wrapping paper. I am really happy to be here, I have made many friends, gained a lot of knowledge and skills, I had a great time here and wanted to sign up again for this club that could give me a chance.
Leann Chang
Hi, my name is Leann Chang. I love to read books, Percy Jackson and Twilight are my favorites. Trying different flavored potato chips is one of my hobbies too. I have an older brother, he is smart, and I learned lots of math knowledge from him. I really love writing and reading, and also learning new things. I joined the cyber fair club during fifth grade first semester. Before the first class, I walked into the classroom full of anticipation. As I expected, it is really fun. After the club, my writing skill improved a lot. We did lots of things, and I will never regret.
Johnny
Hello everyone, my name is Johnny, I am twelve years old this year, I love playing badminton, and I have participated in the Cyber fair since the sixth grade. On the first day, when I heard that our theme this time was Zhizha, I had no idea what a Zhizha was. Later, through the materials and the teacher's explanation, I gradually understood what the Zhizha is and its use, and also I learned a lot of other knowledge about the Zhizha. I entered the International Cyber fair because of my curiosity, I wanted to know what the International Cyber fair club was doing, and because my brother had participated in International Cyber fair competitions before, he strongly recommended that I participate. He said, "Participating will not only increase my knowledge, but also allow me to use computers more skillfully. It will do me no harm." As he said, participating in the Internet industry is really harmless to me. I not only learned a lot of new knowledge, but also how to make paper bundles. Participating in the International Cyber fair has made me gain a lot.
Henry Liang
Hello everyone, I am Henry Liang! This year, I have just entered the fifth grade. I like painting and reading science fiction. I joined the International cyber fair this semester, which is the first semester of the fifth grade.At the beginning, my friends and I thought this club was very interesting, so we went to the test together, and I successfully entered this club. When the teacher first said the word Chinese Paper Art, I had no idea what it was, but then, I learned it with the team.I also did some things that I can't usually do in other clubs, such as making chinese paper art and interviews. This club has also allowed me to improve a lot, such as typing and publishing skills. After joining this club and making a special topic, I found that chinese paper art is really an art, but it has been ignored by everyone in modern times, and it needs everyone to protect it.
So, I hope that everyone will pay attention to Chinese paper art, then it can be passed on!
Natalie
My name is Natalie. In fact, I didn't intend to join the CyberFair at first, but because my parents wanted me to try more, so I give it a try. After I came in, I found that I learned some things that I would not normally come into contact with, such as Chinese Paper Art and using paper puppets to act.This made me understand Taiwan's traditional art better.
Vivian Su
I joined the International CyberFair Club in fifth grade. I have stayed in this club for two years. When I saw the introduction of this club for the first time, I felt interested and was curious about how to interview people and write reports. Later on, I joined two competitions. I learned a lot from the International CyberFair. This year, I learned about Chinese Paper Art. We tried the Chinese Paper Art by ourselves and learned about how the art was made, the history, and the materials for this topic; We asked people about their view and thoughts for Chinese Paper Art; At last, we used the paper houses and props to make a stop motion animation. I’m very surprised to learn so many interesting topics from the International CyberFair Club. I hope to discover more cultural things in the future.
Olivia
My name is Olivia, I like drawing. I joined the International Cyber Fair is because I was very interested in the International Cyber Fair, and I seldom researched a topic with others, so I wanted to give it a try. At first, I didn't know anything about Chinese Traditional Paper Art, but after researching the information, Chinese Traditional Paper Art is the sacrificial supplies made of paper and bamboo that were used in the past, but the Chinese Traditional Paper Art gradually became artworks. We ask questions to know what people of different ages think about Chinese Traditional Paper Art. We also try to make Chinese Traditional Paper Art to let more people know about Chinese Paper Art. In the International Cyber Fair, I learned a lot.
Jason
My name is Jason , I'm twelve years old, I like studying history, making models and drawing sketches. I joined the International CyberFair in the first semester of the fifth grade. In the sixth gradeInternational CyberFair , our theme was Chinese Traditional Paper Art . At the beginning, I had no idea about that , and I didn't know what Traditional Chinese Paper Art was. Fortunately, after the teacher's explanation, I realized that it is a crystallization of Chinese culture, a funeral object of the ancestors, and now it has become an art. The reason why I joined Net Expo is because I think this club is very interesting, and I can increase my ability of interviewing, writing and translating.
