A painting and its handcrafted wooden frame, created through a collaboration between two WorldSkills competitors from Guangdong and Hong Kong, have found a permanent home at the WorldSkills Museum in Shanghai.
The artwork was donated to the museum on Sept. 24 during a ceremony held at the museum's booth at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). It was created by Huang Bolin, a gold medalist in Joinery at the 47th WorldSkills Competition, and Wu Yunfan, a Hong Kong competitor in Painting and Decorating at the same event.
The work brings together two distinct skills. Wu designed and painted the artwork, developing its composition, colors and decorative paint effects while Huang crafted the wooden frame using traditional Chinese mortise-and-tenon techniques.
The collaboration began during a livestream held to mark 30 days until the 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai. The two competitors were invited to step beyond their usual specialties and create a work together. Using Shanghai as its backdrop, the painting incorporates architectural elements inspired by major cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Gold is the dominant visual element of the work. Wu used two shades of gold powder to create a shimmering, almost water-like effect across the painting. He said the darker gold represents the cultural heritage and infrastructure of the cities, while the lighter shade flows through the work like converging streams, symbolizing the different parts of the GBA coming together in Shanghai.
For Huang, the frame was more than just a border. He incorporated a butterfly-shaped mortise-and-tenon joint, a traditional woodworking technique, and crafted the frame to the precision standards required in WorldSkills competitions. The gaps at the joints are less than 0.2 millimeters—roughly the thickness of two sheets of A4 paper.
"We spent a lot of time studying the piece and figuring out how the painting and the frame could work together," Huang said. "After repeated adjustments and a lot of communication, we finally got them to fit together just right."
The completed work will now become part of the WorldSkills Museum's collection, preserving not only the craftsmanship behind it but also the collaboration that brought the two disciplines together.
Pan Yu, deputy director of the WorldSkills Museum, said the work highlights the exchange between young skilled professionals from Guangdong and Hong Kong while reflecting the closer ties between the GBA and Shanghai ahead of the 48th WorldSkills Competition. The museum aims to showcase skills and craftsmanship while providing a platform for international exchange and dialogue, Pan said.
As the 48th WorldSkills Competition takes place in Shanghai, the artwork offers a tangible reminder that skills competitions are about more than medals. They also provide opportunities for young people from different places and disciplines to meet, learn from one another and create something together.
Reporter | Li Fangwang
Photos | Chen Siyuan
