Lisa Deng, Founder, GreatSeed Inc.

Handmade oilpaper umbrellas, sandalwood fans, brocade textiles and other Chinese traditional arts are on the verge of extinction. In the face of China’s drive toward modernization and mass production, GreatSeed was started to preserve and promote China’s traditional arts and crafts. In the last 10 months, GreatSeed has traveled more than 10,000 kilometers, across 12 provinces, visiting 65 state-level inheritors of folk arts and crafts in China, and documenting artists, their artworks and their techniques. Deng, the founder of GreatSeed, will share some of the local customs and traditions that she learned about, her collections and her mission to preserve China’s traditional folk arts.