The Artification of a Traditional Craft: An Institutional Analysis of Shu Brocade

Abstract

This study employs George Dickie’s Institutional Theory of Art as its theoretical framework, examining the artistic attributes and social legitimacy of Shu Brocade from a sociological perspective. The core elements of this theory – artist, artwork, the public, and art system – are applied to the Shu Brocade artistic sphere as represented by China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) system, thereby defining its constitutive mechanisms and interactive logic. The research indicates that Shu Brocade creators (artists) attain cultural legitimacy within the ICH framework through their status as inheritors, functioning as cultural practitioners within a collaborative network. Shu Brocade (artwork) is conferred social artistic status within this system through selection and exhibition processes. The public, as appreciators and consumers, exert a reciprocal influence on creation and preservation mechanisms through aesthetic judgement and cultural consumption; while the art system (ICH framework) transforms Shu Brocade weaving techniques from traditional craftsmanship into socially recognised artistic practice through institutional procedures such as inventory recognition and inheritor selection. This paper conceives Shu Brocade as a cyclical social process: the artefacts of its creators are imbued with artistic identity through the screening and symbolisation of institutional mechanisms, completing their artistic genesis through public understanding and acceptance.