"Crop waste-dyed" fabrics turn E China's rural village into living art gallery

Photo shows fabrics dyed in iridescent colors extracted from crop waste in a field in Youxi village. (Photo/Fu Xianbin)

Decorated by fabrics dyed in a brilliant range of natural colors derived from crop waste, Youxi village in Luanfeng township, Guangze county, Nanping city, east China's Fujian province, has recently been turned into an exquisite art gallery, drawing large crowds of tourists.

These fabrics with a total length of 800 meters have adorned lounge bridges, ancient trees and some ground floors of the village. The plant-dye artworks blend in perfectly with the natural landscapes, making the village resemble a rural art museum without a roof.

Many of the natural dyes’ raw materials are extracted from agricultural waste including lotus seedpod, tea leafs and black bean hulls. Artists make full use of these extracted pigments to develop and design various art works so that the crop waste can be reused. Furthermore, the works colored with plant-based dyes can be sold to promote the cultural and creative industries.

As a pilot county-level region for the construction of a "waste-free city", whose development concept is being recognized by an increasing number of people, Guangze county has become a vivid representation of what such a city could look like.