Abstract
Hong Kong Cheongsam Making Technique is an important and critically endangered intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Hong Kong. Its high-standing cultural value and essentiality of urgent preservation have been authenticated by the progressive inscriptions onto the regional and national representative list of ICH. However, the current inheritance, especially that of men’s cheongsam, based on the conventional practice is considered inefficient. A practice reinvention is therefore needed. Digitalization and computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies provide a feasible approach to reinvent the practice. This practice-led constructive design research aims to translate the implicit knowledge of the veteran tailors into systematic formulas and algorithms through a triangulated and reflective study. The key determining entity and reliance in the traditional practice can be prospectively transferred from the retiring tailors to the lasting systems and data archives for a more sustaining preservation. This paper reports on the research plan and current progress of the project.
Keywords
Hong Kong Cheongsam Making Technique, Men’s Cheongsam, Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation, Digitalization
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.800
Citation
Ng, H.(2023) Digitalized intangible cultural heritage preservation – reinventing the design practice of Hong Kong men’s cheongsam, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.800
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
shortpapers
Included in
Digitalized intangible cultural heritage preservation – reinventing the design practice of Hong Kong men’s cheongsam
Hong Kong Cheongsam Making Technique is an important and critically endangered intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Hong Kong. Its high-standing cultural value and essentiality of urgent preservation have been authenticated by the progressive inscriptions onto the regional and national representative list of ICH. However, the current inheritance, especially that of men’s cheongsam, based on the conventional practice is considered inefficient. A practice reinvention is therefore needed. Digitalization and computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies provide a feasible approach to reinvent the practice. This practice-led constructive design research aims to translate the implicit knowledge of the veteran tailors into systematic formulas and algorithms through a triangulated and reflective study. The key determining entity and reliance in the traditional practice can be prospectively transferred from the retiring tailors to the lasting systems and data archives for a more sustaining preservation. This paper reports on the research plan and current progress of the project.