For the Dulong people of southernmost Yunnan province, there is a cultural symbol prized above all others: the Dulong blanket. In the ethnic group's own language, it's known as the "jodo", which simply means blanket. By day, it is worn as clothing, by night, to sleep under. Woven from linen, the traditional jodo is brightly dyed. Many people refer to the Dulong people as "weavers of rainbows".
In October 2014, the China National Minority Culture and Art Promotion Association, the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation and Shanghai ZucZug Clothing Company came together to start the Yunnan Dulong Cultural Integration Project, established by a local unit of the Yunnan Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Foundation. The aim of the project was to protect and ensure the continuation of traditional cultural diversity among ethnic minorities, promote economic development of minority areas, and improve the quality of living for these communities, especially local women.
In its first five years, from initial research to market positioning, to design and product development, right up until the "red thread" success of the Dulong blanket, the project has enabled the successful melding of ethnic minority culture and innovative design. Secondary design has made these products more suited to the aesthetic tastes of Chinese urbanites yet retained the cultural context of ethnic culture. This has been a new journey in cultureled poverty alleviation helped by artists from minority communities and new fresh products designed to also promote empowerment.
The project has successfully entered its third phase, directly benefiting more than 50 individual women, providing local poverty alleviation and indirect benefits for up to 200, and increasing per capita annual incomes by between 5,000 and 20,000 RMB. More women have been encouraged into weaving, so project has expanded its scale of production, added designs, and grown its sales channels. And while local women have seen their incomes increase, the project has also protected and enhanced the status of Dulong heritage and built the group’s self-confidence as an ethnicity steeped in culture.
