Changhua County’s Sanmin Community (三民社區) has joined an ever-growing number of farming villages that are turning to amateur or professional artists to attract more visitors to the countryside.
Under the guidance of master potter Yeh Chih-cheng (葉志誠), Sanmin Community residents are creating pottery representations of cats and placing them on fences, billboards or roof eaves in the community.
Yeh said he has been teaching members of the community pottery for two years.
Photo: Chen Kuan-pei, Taipei Times
The theme chosen for the initial course — cats — was a surprise success, and the community has a special love for making feline figurines, Yeh said, adding that the community has become a “cat village” like no other.
The community’s affinity for cats is perhaps due to the farmers’ belief that cats protect the urn where the villagers keep their rice from rodents, Yeh said.
As the villagers’ cat-themed creations received praise, the positive affirmation might have motivated them to continue with the theme, Yeh said.
That confidence has led to more refined and exquisite artworks, Yeh said.
As long as someone is a resident of the community, all materials for the pottery class are provided for for free, Yeh said.
While his overheads have risen exponentially, Yeh said he was glad his workshop was a part of the effort to bring new life to rural villages.
However, some academics have warned that such projects could lead to the destruction of historically important architecture.
The subject matter of the projects often clashes with an area’s environment, Chiayi Community College pottery professor Wang Yi-yi (王蟻益) was cited as saying in media reports in January last year.
It does not benefit the farming villages, and the crowds drawn by the artworks — ostensibly the reason they were created — are a source of complaint among local villagers, Wang said.
Older buildings — some of which are more than 100 years old — might become irreparably damaged should paint clog the pores of bricks, Wang said.
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