Lifestyle
When Harry met handicrafts
By Tao Zihui  ·  2020-11-23  ·   Source: Web Exclusive

Zhu Fujun makes a clay sculpture of Hedwig via live-streaming on November 7

"The wand chooses the wizard." Every Hogwarts pupil needs their very own magic wand. At the age of 11, you go to Ollivander’s to get a wand, where it is then becomes the wand maker’s job to uncover your magical core. But over the years, you can take your wand back and ask the wand maker "to rehouse it and create a new casing." This is part of what Pierre Bohanna had to consider before designing the props for Harry Potter films. 

Pierre Bohanna was the prop designer on the Harry Potter films as well as its series of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Referred to as the real-life Ollivander, he shared his experiences working on the movie with Harry Potter fans via livestreaming hosted by Chinese short video platform Kuaishou on November 7.  

It has been more than two decades since a British boy wizard captured the hearts of moviegoing audiences worldwide. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Harry Potter franchise landing in China.  

In collaboration with Warner Bros and supported by the British Embassy in China, themed “Twenty Years of Harry Potter in China,” the 2.5-hour live-streaming attracted some 2.736 million Chinese viewers.  

The live-streaming was brimming with creative activity and surprise. Four Chinese inheritors of intangible cultural heritage presented Harry Potter-themed handicrafts like clay sculptures, sugar paintings, and egg carvings recreating the classic scenes and characters from the movie. Waving their “wands” and casting their "spells," the craftsmen showcased numerous new Harry Potter-style "gadgets." They demonstrated, as Pierre Bohanna put it, a “rehousing” and new casing of this "magical wand" in the context of traditional Chinese culture. 

"I had a chance to look some amazing Pottering art, and artists in this competition. They are high in quality, but also remain enjoyable; everyone really let their imagination run wild. And they interpreted the subject into so many ways,” he said. "It's a celebration of imagination, creativity and skillful craft." 

However, what really stands out was that the Harry Potter-themed handicraft is a combination of practical items with human aspects. Just like a wand. 

"One of the lovely things about wands is that, as a prop, they are bespoke to the character they were created for. A wand is a magical thing, but also a practical thing; you can focus them on the magic you are creating. Then there is the human aspect. The idea of how it looks, how it feels." Bohanna said. 

The prop designer added they had faced many challenges when creating these wands for the first time. “We try to facilitate and create the ideas of J.K. Rowling through the manufacturing of the wands, of props. It’s difficult,” he explained. 

The "rehousing" of the classic scenes and characters in the story through Chinese culture is just like the rehousing of a wand. 

Through the mixture of the magic world IP and Chinese intangible heritage craftsmanship, Chinese fans get to relive their dreamland and experience a novel form of cultural communication. 

Zhu Fujun, an online celebrity clay sculptor with 3.9 million fans on short-video app Kuaishou, produced a clay Hedwig, the owl, during the live-streaming and shared a few interesting anecdotes about the bird. “I've been in love with Harry Potter for so many years,” he said, “What really touched me is that it is a magical world showing many virtues, such as love, friendship and kinship. Love is the most important element in the book.” His clay sculpture of Hedwig is a representation of the magical story combined with Chinese culture. It is the “rehousing” of a classical character. As Bohanna said, there are many human styles and fashions that people want to demonstrate. That’s very human characteristics. “In a wand, you have both these strengths.” In a handicraft, people have them too. 

20 years of magic 

With Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling created one of modern fiction's most alluring and magical worlds. 

"The scar had not pained Harry for 19 years. All was well." Rowling ends the story.  

Two decades onwards, the story still "puts a spell"on its Chinese fans and is still warmly welcomed across China. Furthermore, people can find quite a few Chinese elements throughout Rowling’s works. For example, Zuwu, divine beasts symbolizing good luck in ancient Chinese myths and legends from Book of Mountains and Seas can be found in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.  

Rowling has shown her interest in Chinese culture and once said, "I like Chinese culture very much." In order to invent various spells in a magical world, she discovered there were many magical concepts in Chinese culture such as moving objects in space and controlling minds. These Chinese elements inspired her and became an important source of her magical system. 

Harry Potter provides an imaginative and magical world full of new possibilities. Its resonance with readers has turned the book series into a phenomenon across China. Asking Chinese students about their impression of Britain, chances are they will say "Big Ben," "the Queen," or Harry Potter. This book series is a golden ticket for the UK at large and will remain popular among Chinese readers for its ingenious world and the memories of the "good old days."

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

Comments to taozihui@bjreview.com 

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