The Straw Braiding Workshop at Chefang Experimental Primary School in SIP will have the chance to showcase an array of straw-braided works at the 6th Chinese Primary and Middle School Students’ Art Exhibition which, sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China and Suzhou government, will be held in Suzhou from Apr 15 to 20. All the works will be from the students, the school said.

Among the exhibits will be straw-braided human, animal and other figurines highlighting Suzhou culture, such as those portraying the dragon boat race held annually in the city to celebrate the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, and those of 12 symbolic animal signs in Chinese Zodiac. It is noteworthy that a set of “Taihu Stones” resembling the gorgeous limestone rocks from Taihu Lake will make their debut at the event.

It is learnt that the school launched cooperation with Chinese straw braiding expert Wu Zhaomei in 2010 to offer straw braiding courses, encouraging its students to carry forward the local folk handicraft that was included in the country’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2008. In addition, it has made short videos on straw braiding to support the teaching activities.

The school’s continuous efforts have paid off. Many of its students and their works have won awards in local competitions, and the school was designated a “World Heritage Youth Education Base” in 2013 by WHITRAP (Suzhou), a branch of the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (WHITRAP).