Nancy Tong goes by Sister Hulu (Hulu Mei). A play on a 1980s Chinese cartoon about a talking hulu (or bottle gourd), the name is both fun and entirely appropriate – Tong transforms the traditional Chinese gourds into humorous, memorable characters with paint. We caught up with Tong ahead of Christmas market season. Are these the perfect Christmas gift? You decide.
What inspired you to begin working with hulu?
Around four years ago, I was walking by a house with a bunch of hulus growing out front, when a man from inside came out and asked me ‘Do you like my hulus?’ He showed me a huge collection, many of which he had carved into buddhas, religious symbols, characters and the like. You see these hulus all the time, inside homes and taxis, and no one eats them – they’re just there. I became interested in how people use them as a medium.
Can you tell us about the process of making these?
Yeah, I mean, I’m kinda sitting in my room alone with all these gourds [laughs]. But I start by buying them from a local lady, a vendor. The hulu I buy are in the ‘bargain’ box of deformed and undesirable ones. The expensive ones are very symmetrical – sometimes people even shape their hulu with molds – but I actually try to go for the more deformed ones.
Does the shop owner know what you’re doing with them?
She knows I paint them. We’re WeChat friends, and she gives me the thumbs up emoji sometimes.
How many do you think you’ve made at this point?
Probably over a hundred. There is a huge growing demand for these things – when I left [Beijing three years ago, before returning in 2016], there would maybe be a Christmas market every year, but now there are so many of these markets popping up every weekend.
What’s the reaction to your hulu been like?
Most of my customers are actually young Chinese people, which I’m really excited about. It shows people are still interested in their local culture. I think a lot of young Chinese look outwards for their dose of culture, so seeing locals take to my hulu is cool.
We love your Instagram account, @beijingquilts, where you post photos of quilts hanging up in the hutongs. What’s the story behind it?
I take pictures of older quilts I see in the hutongs [because] I like the idea of a now-older person receiving a quilt when they got married and keeping it for years. Many older people have these items from their youth that they don’t ever think about replacing. People today will get married and simply go shopping afterwards to stock up on utilities. It seems like hand-making something, as a ritual, is totally gone.
Do you have any more projects planned for the future?
I’m collecting used and unwanted textiles for a quilting project. I’ve been wanting to do a community project for a while now, and I’d like to get people together to discuss the meaning behind this – the disposable products and the rapid pace of replacement that our society pushes us towards. I want others to think before they throw something away.
Check out Tong’s hulu at: The Beijing Flea Market, Sat Dec 9, noon-6pm, Pop-Up Beijing. Follow Tong’s projects on Instagram at @beijingquilts and @sisterhulu.
Images by Oscar Holland
0 User Comments