The Melancholic Traveller

Abstract

The project, 忘歸 (The Melancholic Traveller), is a travelogue crafted using 龍鱗裝 (dragon scale binding), integrating cyanotype illustrations, poetry, and bilingual text in English and Chinese. This work explores the essence of nostalgia and the fluid concept of 家鄉 (homeland) for the Chinese diaspora, reflecting on a distinct Chinese world through artistic and poetic expressions. Created during a six-week field study in Guangdong and Macau, the project documents the experience of being confined by COVID-19 lockdowns. The travelogue captures an intimate, constrained world that gradually expanded as restrictions lifted. The title, 忘歸, meaning to forget and to return, evokes the melancholy and fragility of nostalgia, drawing on the concept of 熬路 (Ao Liu), which suggests a suspension in time. Nostalgia is depicted as a bridge between cultures, blending Western cyanotype aesthetics with Eastern dragon scale binding. The use of rice paper and traditional bookbinding techniques, combined with cyanotype printing, creates a unique cultural synthesis that merges traditional Chinese craftsmanship with contemporary artistic practices. The project connects 懷舊藝術(nostalgic Chinese art) with modern interpretations of traditional crafts, aiming to evoke a deep sense of home, identity, and belonging for diasporic Chinese readers. It seeks to resonate with those who have experienced the displacement and longing inherent in the diasporic journey, offering a contemplative space to explore the intersection of memory, culture, and identity.