Dawn of the Butterflies: Kam Women Artisans of China

Marie Anna Lee, associate professor of graphic design, Department of Art & Graphic Design, presents Dawn of the Butterflies, her sabbatical exhibition and book publication. Photographs, artifacts, and manuscript pages explore the cultural artisan traditions of the Kam women artisans in China.

The exhibition presents excerpts of Marie Anna Lee's apprenticeship with the Dimen artisans that resulted in the creation of the Kam Women Artisans of China: Dawn of the Butterflies manuscript, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in 2018. The 290-page book contains Lee's 64 technical illustrations and countless original photographs. The book layout has also been designed by Lee following the publisher's requirements.

Marie Anna Lee has worked on cultural preservation of Kam indigenous heritage since 2007 and received the 2013 and 2014 SEED (Social Environmental Economic Design) Award honorable mention for excellence in public interest design for her work in Dimen. As part of the Kam delegation from Dimen, Lee presented at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. in 2014. She taught at Public Interest Design Institute in Denver in 2013 and presented her research at numerous national and international conferences.

More information about the project is available at marieannalee.com/kam and singinghands.org.
Book available at www.cambridgescholars.com/kam-women-artisans-of-china.