A collection of curated artworks combining shell carving with calligraphy and painting have recently made a splash. Created by a group of shell carving inheritors of Pingtan, an island city off the coast of Fujian Province, the artworks featured minimalist designs and calligraphy of famous poems.

What are the highlights of these intangible cultural heritage works? Where did their originality stem from? Let's find out together.

Walking into the shell carving workshop at Pingtan Taiwan-themed Town, reporters from Pingtan CMC saw the source of all the hype.

Instead of incorporating traditional shell carvings onto usual round porcelain plates, another creative way would be creating the art on a scroll. That's what Pingtan's Shell Carving inheritors did!

Exquisite carving techniques endow various shells with concise lines, creating images of daffodils in the bud, plum blossoms in full bloom, and graceful lotuses.

Each piece highlights a theme, while the element composition and layout leave plenty of blank space. Most artworks were complemented by a famous poem or a handwritten sentence, matching the theme.

At first glance, some may mistake them for traditional watercolor paintings or traditional Chinese paintings. But when you take a closer look, you will discover an "extraordinary revelation"- 3D shell carvings embossed on the scroll, creating an expressive work of art.

A flawless painting of a delicate white narcissus hangs on the wall while a shorttube lycoris sits on the left. On the right, a blooming narcissus sits, accompanied by "A Poem of Narcissus" by Yang Wanli, a poet from the Song Dynasty 1127-1279. Two beautiful forms of art brought together for the ultimate aesthetic experience! The stems, flowers, and rhizomes are all carved from mussel shells. Black pigments and any forms of discoloration were removed to bring out the purity and elegance of the narcissus.

In the future, the shell carving workshop will continue carrying forward the intangible cultural heritage. 

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