Students learn paper-cutting skills from Chinese instructor |29 December 2012

This took place through a nine-day workshop organised by the Ministry of Tourism & Culture in the context of its cultural cooperation with China.

The workshop, led by instructor and facilitator Tian Yanlan, was aimed at teaching, improving and providing advanced paper-cutting skills to the participants.

It follows a previous paper-cutting workshop held in November 2011 by Chinese expert Chen Yangrong.

Ms Tian Yanlan noted that paper-cutting is a very distinctive visual art of Chinese handicraft originating from the 6th century when women used to paste golden and silver foil cuttings onto their hair at the temples, and men used them in sacred rituals.

The main cutting tools are simple: paper and scissors or an engraving knife.
She also said it is easy to learn about cutting a piece of paper but it is very difficult to master it with perfection as one must grasp the knife in an upright fashion and press evenly on the paper with some strength.

She also noted that flexibility is required and that any hesitation or wiggling will lead to imprecision or damage the whole image.

The workshop was made possible through the joint collaboration of the Seychelles Ministry of Tourism & Culture and the Chinese embassy in Seychelles.