An Overseas Chinese Makes Medical Masks into Cultural Cards

An Overseas Chinese Makes Medical Masks into Cultural Cards

心系“老家河南” 来自新乡的华侨青年把口罩做成文化名片

Medical masks printed with the slogan of "Hometown Henan" which is familiar to all have been transported to cultural activities in Uruguay and Cambodia. During the cultural activities held in these countries, the medical masks designed by Chen Chen from Changyuan of Henan province have enjoyed great popularity.

“老家河南”这几个字大家一定不陌生，现在，它跟随口罩飞向了乌拉圭、柬埔寨等国家——在这些国家的文化交流活动上，来自长垣的华侨青年陈晨创作的“老家河南”文化口罩备受欢迎。

A medical mask designed by Chen Chen. [Photo/dahe.cn]

Chen Chen, born after 1985 in Changyuan, became a permanent resident of Italy in 2016. Living abroad, he constantly explore Chinese traditions and the roots of Chinese culture, integrating Chinese culture and Western art with creativity.

“85后”陈晨出生在中国“卫材之乡”长垣市，2016年获得意大利“欧盟永久居留”许可。在异国他乡，陈晨不断结合中国的传统，寻找中国文化根性，用创意将中国文化、西方艺术融会贯通。

During the COVID-19 in 2020, Chen Chen and his wife decided to stay in Changyuan to help their father run his business. During this period, he got the new ideas to endow the medical masks more cultural connotations apart from its nature as commodities.

2020年疫情期间，陈晨和妻子选择留在家乡长垣帮父亲打理生意。正是这次的打理生意， 让他萌生了创意想法，在摘除口罩的商品属性之外，他决定赋予它更多的文化内涵。

"The first batch of innovated medical masks with the elements of ancient Chinese characters were officially sent to Uruguay and Cambodia, well received locally," said Chen Chen proudly. Some organizers even contacted Chen Chen to customize some similar masks, which strengthened his determination.

“‘老家河南’系列创意口罩，融合了‘宅兹中国’和‘甲骨文’的文字图形，第一批成品通过官方渠道送到了乌拉圭和柬埔寨，在当地大受好评。”提起这批带着“家乡味儿”的口罩，陈晨很自豪。后期一些活动主办方会主动联系陈晨定制一些类似的文化类口罩，这坚定了他继续创作的决心。

Over the past two years, Chen Chen has skillfully combined Chinese characters, urban culture and intangible heritages to show Chinese culture to the world and make it more appealing through "masks".

“老家河南”“非遗女书”“两岸乡愁”“君子文化”……两年时间里，陈晨把中国文字、城市人文、非遗符号等巧妙结合起来，通过“口罩”这一传播媒介，向世界展示中国文化，让中国文化更有感染力。

Recently, Chen Chen has been working on his new series with the elements of traditional Chinese medicine and urban culture, promoting Chinese culture to the world with his practices.

继文化系列口罩后，最近陈晨又开始了中医药口罩的研发和城市地域文化口罩的创作，他以自己的实际行动连接中外，努力讲好中国故事和中国精神。（中文来源/大河网 记者/朱丽文 编译/赵汉青 审校/焦丹）