For our next Stories of Things on May 7th, 2025, we will enter the world of animals and their rich representation and symbolism in Chinese culture. The speakers, both veterans of Stories of Things, are Linda Johnson, the creator of the iconic Madame Mao's Dowry, and sinologist Dagmar Borchard who enchanted us with her paper funerary items a few years back.

Linda says this about a flat cat mirror that she will present:

"I will tell the stories that emerge from a vintage find I made during the redevelopment frenzy that preceded Covid. A time when lane houses were being cleared and all manner of hoarded objects resurfaced in the city. I have chosen an object from the post Mao era that appears as a kitsch decoration but reveals a multifaceted story through my acquisition of it and the history of design it incorporates. Its visual impact is centred on the domestic cat, a popular subject since ancient times appearing in myth, poetry, classical literature, paintings and other media, but it also holds glimpses of film, new year and my own experience as a collector. In my talk I will seek to explore this once popular object as a carrier of an enduring aesthetic that continues to amass memories of the Shanghai story today."

Here, Dagmar describes her rabbit lantern:

"In Shanghai, most handicrafts for daily use come from the surrounding towns in the suburbs like Jiading, Qingpu or Fengxian. The old masters who weave baskets or make rush shoes, are often already retired or more often, close to retirement. Until some years ago, one could still see old gentlemen making paper lanterns in the shape of rabbits in the streets of Yu Yuan bazaar during New Year celebration and for Lantern festival. Little children would get one to play with for Lantern Festival and for many older Shanghainese, these rabbit lanterns are now carriers of sentimental childhood memories. When I first watched the process from shaping the rabbit body with fine bamboo strings and decorating the frame with paper, I became infatuated with these cute rabbit lanterns and began to collect them as a token of a vanishing handicraft, using only natural materials. During all these years, I not only bought traditional rabbit lanterns in all shapes, but also some modern varieties made out of cloth or even plastic."

The event will be held at 7:00om at the Sketch Yard Restaurant near the RAS Reading Room. Beverages and light snacks will be served.

Entry for members is rmb 100. Non members is rmb 200.