Preservation of Hezhen Fish Skin Tradition through Fashion Higher Education

The use of fish skin for the construction of garments and accessories is an ancient tradition shared by coastal Arctic societies. A subsistence lifestyle developed depending on aquatic resources for food and clothing. Arctic indigenous peoples need formidable resourcefulness to thrive in inhospitable ecosystems; fish skin provide them physical and spiritual protection. During the last century, Arctic indigenous peoples resisted both colonization and repression by humans and dramatic ecological changes in seafood security. Fish skin craft became a way to communicate traditional knowledge combined with cultural resilience. As market goods have replaced traditional fish skin clothing, the need for the skills required to create these items have diminished. The decrease of local natural resources also threatens the craft. The film focus is primarily to identify the historical, cultural, environmental and socio-economic importance of fish skin as an innovative sustainable material. Secondarily, it proposes a vision of sustainability as an anthropological study of the resourcefulness and resilience of the Arctic indigenous peoples, their lifestyles and fish skin practices; and thirdly, it can help to preserve them. The application of the craft to fashion has been tested through a participatory workshop with fashion students from Central Saint Martins taught by Hezhen craftspeople to investigate how this material and the transmission of fish skin skills can contribute to sustainability practices in fashion. The Hezhen are one of China’s smallest ethnic minorities living in north eastern China by the Amur river basin, with a traditional economy based on hunting and fishing. In 2006, the Hezhen method of making clothes with fish skin was listed as intangible cultural heritage, and Wenfeng You – our main craftsperson during this workshop – was appointed its heir.

• http://www.fishskinlab.com