The shoes are on loan through the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Houston from the Bubusheng Museum in Yichang, near the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.
The museum’s collection is one of the largest and most impactful protectors of this part of Chinese culture. The curated exhibit in Addison represents key features in the Bubusheng Museum’s expansive collection of over 1,000 pairs of Chinese cloth shoes.
The selected footwear was chosen for its representation of unique themes including: love, traditional regions, suffering and a return to nature. The collection reflects not only the geographic differences but also the cultural diversity of China, including shoes designed around traditional careers, religious practices and minority groups.
The collection places a special focus on the controversial, and now banned, practice of foot-binding, and shows several pairs of beautifully embellished ‘lotus’ shoes. The display also highlights the health benefits of the cotton shoes which use all natural materials, including the addition of Chinese herbs. This practice continues today, with environmental, ecological, and wellness concerns being paramount in modern shoe construction.
Exhibition of Traditional Chinese Cloth Shoes will run Wednesday, May 8 – Wednesday, May 22, Monday – Friday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Visit Addison Gallery, Village on the Parkway, 5100 Belt Line Road, Suite 400 Dallas, Texas 75254.
You can vote once a day, every day until May 12.
