When Symbols Travel: Red Threads, Hair, and Cross-Cultural Empathy

Although my research initially focused on the relationship between Chinese women and the institution of marriage, and my stakeholders were Chinese, the intervention conducted in the UK attracted women from different cultural backgrounds to participate. Their feedback made me realize that this device not only reflects the situation of Chinese women in the marriage system, but also reveals the common pressures that women face in different societies.
The two core materials used in the installation – red thread and hair – originally symbolized marriage, restraint and physical connection in the context of Chinese culture. Red symbolizes marriage in China, and hair is also a very important element in the history of Chinese women. However, with the participation of women from the UK, South Korea, Singapore, Canada and other places, these symbols have been constantly “retranslated”.
For the participants from China and Singapore, the red thread and hair brought a sense of oppression and unease, symbolizing the fate of women entangled by social expectations.
Korean participants interpreted the red thread as a metaphor for fate – whether they like it or not, individuals are always connected by some invisible thread.
Women from Canada and the UK, although not familiar with these cultural symbols, felt an emotional resonance the moment they touched their hair. They talked about that soft, genuine and almost intimate touch, which reminded people of the universality of the “body” as a shared experience.
These cross-cultural perspectives broaden the significance of the research: the fact that audiences from different cultures can establish emotional connections with material symbols through sensory experiences indicates that my approach is effective in emotional communication. The same symbol (red line, hair) is reinterpreted in different cultural contexts, which makes me think about the flow and redefinition of cultural symbols in a global context.
Ultimately, I realized that art, through the combination of physical experience and symbolic materials, can not only present the oppression of social structures but also serve as a cross-cultural medium to promote understanding and empathy.