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Elephant News reporter Xu Zhaopeng and Zhao Chaoyang

"After more than a month of hard work in Paris, I finally returned to the embrace of my motherland." On August 15, Li Zhumei, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of paper-cutting from Sanmenxia City, who had just returned to China, wrote in her circle of friends.

During the 2024 Paris Olympics, Li Zhumei led the "Double Olympics" paper-cutting franchise creation team to use the paper-cutting art of western Henan to capture the wonderful moments of Chinese athletes winning the Paris Olympics.

"This small piece of paper carries a very rich historical and cultural heritage. Standing in Paris, showing our Chinese traditions to the world and receiving high recognition from international friends makes me feel very proud," said Li Zhumei.

Tired and happy

"At the beginning, it was okay because there were fewer gold medals (creative intensity). But later, especially in the last few days, there were a lot of gold medals, three or four gold medals a day. You have no idea, we were working non-stop." Recalling the past month, 57-year-old Li Zhumei said.

Since obtaining the license for the Paris Olympics, Li Zhumei has been thinking about using paper cutting to show the moments of Olympic athletes. "It's difficult for a painter to draw a portrait of a person, let alone a cut-out one. I want to challenge this impossibility."

After many attempts, Li Zhumei's team also summed up their own form. In the paper-cuts, the Olympic athletes in the pictures are either raising their arms and roaring or calm and elegant. Each painting is vivid and lifelike, as if they are still in the stadium. "We are a small team, and we still focus on the championship. When we get a gold medal with great difficulty, we also burst into tears."

At this Paris Olympics, Li Zhumei's team combined traditional culture with modern sports spirit and cut out a total of 40 works to record the competition.

The proudest thing

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and is also the China-France Cultural Exchange Year. Li Zhumei was also invited to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics International Art Exchange Exhibition. At the exhibition, Li Zhumei and her team displayed their paper-cut scroll "A Century of Olympics". This 12.8-meter-long and 0.88-meter-wide work contains nearly 100 paper-cut works, including major landmark buildings in Paris, heroic athletes, and wonderful moments from previous Olympic Games.

"It took two years to create this work. I studied French history and culture, the Olympic spirit, and consulted French friends. In the end, I combined Chinese culture with France and the Olympic Games. Our work has been highly recognized and won an international award."

In order to better showcase Chinese culture, before the start of the Paris Olympics, Li Zhumei first went to Athens, Greece, and then rode all the way through Switzerland and other countries to Paris. "I carry paper cuttings with me, and I show them wherever I go. Whenever foreigners see my works, they all give me a thumbs up. I have given hundreds of mascot works as gifts."

The original intention of paper cutting

Li Zhumei, a former journalist, was deeply attracted by the exquisite works of folk paper-cutting artists during an interview, and she had the idea of ​​leading everyone to promote traditional culture and get rich through paper-cutting. "My goal is to combine it with some large-scale domestic and international events, combining the oldest traditional paper-cutting with the most modern and fashionable Olympics."

Li Zhumei then founded the Yellow River Folk Art Research Institute and began to explore and organize folk paper-cutting art. With her amazing skills, she became a licensed paper-cutting creator for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The paper-cutting collection "Fuwa Takes You on a Tour of Beijing" created by her team has received widespread attention and love. In the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the paper-cutting creation team led by Li Zhumei once again obtained the paper-cutting license from the Olympic Committee and became the "Double Olympics" paper-cutting creation team.

As the creator of three Olympic Games licensed paper-cuts, Li Zhumei overcame many difficulties including financial, personnel and health problems. "I have come this far, through hardships, but I have never changed my mind." Talking about the past, Li Zhumei has no regrets.

"Many people see us and want to see our works in person. We are going to hold a traveling exhibition of paper-cutting, and a traveling exhibition for the Paris Olympics." Not only that, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and the Olympics in Los Angeles, the United States are also on Li Zhumei's schedule.

(Source: Elephant News)