“Craft and Heritage in Upland Southwest China” is a research project (2022-present) in material culture and heritage studies focused on the handcraft practices of minority nationality (ethnic) groups in the upland regions of Southwest China. Because the cultural practices and social histories of this region span present-day international borders, the project is attentive to craft practices and changing social dynamics within the wider region, which is variously known as the Southeast Asian Massif, Zomia, or China’s Southwest borderlands (with mainland Southeast Asia).
The project builds upon previous partnered research and exchange activities undertaken through “Intangible Cultural Heritage and Ethnographic Museum Practice” (2013-2016) and “Collaborative Work in Museum Folklore and Heritage Studies” (2017-2021), two sub-projects of the “China-US Folklore and Intangible Cultural Heritage Project,” a collaboration of the American Folklore Society and the China Folklore Society.
Leading the “Craft and Heritage in Upland Southwest China” project are Jason Baird Jackson (Indiana University) and Lijun Zhang (George Mason University).