The Art of Zinn'Sunn
The Kemite art found at Zinn’Sunn can be divided into seven different categories and encompasses a broad set of different skills and medias. Because of Zinn’Sunn’s cultural crossroads diversity, all forms of this art can be found within the city, and training in all of it is possible.
Kemite Folk Art
The Kemite people invented pulping and reconstituting wood fiber to form parchment. And from this art of papermaking came two different skills… Paper cutting and paper folding. papercuttings are chiefly decorative. They ornament walls, windows, doors, columns, mirrors, lamps and lanterns in homes and are also used on presents or are given as gifts themselves. Entrances are decorated with paper cut outs is supposed to bring good luck. Papercuttings used to be used as patterns, especially for embroidery and lacquer work. In Zinn’Sunnese culture it can reflect many aspects of life such as prosperity, health, or harvest. Some cuttings represent stories about the happiness gained from the accomplishment of common goals. Conversely, paper folding is an art form designed to occupy the mind and stretch the intelligence. Tiny miniature animals, geometric shapes, almost anything can be made from this art form.
Puppetry is the second form of folk art popular with the Kemites. They’ve always made hand puppets and marionettes and have been known to put on elaborate shows reflecting this. In addition, paper cut figures are used in shadow puppetry which is a truly popular art form in most places occupied with Kemites. Elaborate stories can be told through the use of these resources.
The final form of Kemite folkart is the tying of elaborate knotworks. Made of different materials such as reed, silk, cotton, and twine, this art form is incredibly popular and used in all sorts of manners. Large elaborate decorations several feet across grace the walls of people’s homes, while small knotwork tassles might decorate their favorite warhorse’ tack.
Visual Art
Zinn’Sunn is renowned for its visual arts. These come in many forms. Of the full spectrum, a few notables would be the true rise of pottery as a classic example of just how skilled the Kemite Artisans can be. Exported throughout the Empire, the exquisite unique forms of pottery produced in Zinn’Sunn feature glazes and firing techniques that are jealously guarded and found no where else on Telath. In addition to their pottery art, Zinn’Sunn also produces, on a massive scale, fine dinnerware of delicate almost see-through workmanship and conversely hefty thick earthenware. In addition to pottery, Zinn’Sunn is famous for its unusual forms of painting. Not only are traditional oil on canvas works produced, but silk painting, ink washing, and incredible calligraphy are routinely executed.
Music
Needless to say, Zinn’Sunn is known as “The City of Music” for a good reason. Nearly three quarters of the entire population can sing or play a musical instrument. For some reason those musically inclined seem to naturally gravitate towards the city and remain so long as they can immerse themselves in the Kemite culture. Within Zinn’Sunn’s walls some of the worlds most unique instruments are played. Song is taught extensively, and every holiday and festival is accompanied by singing and music of all types.
Performance Art
Not only is opera well-received and respected, as might be expected, but actual performing theater is very popular as well. The Kemites remember their history and their flight from their homelands through the art of acting and dance. Their styles are unique, incorporating the use of long flowing silk, brightly colored costumes, and heavy makeup. Kemites also love incorporating their puppetry into their theater and dance. They tend to make enormous puppets that take large groups of people to manipulate. These puppets commonly come in the form of Lions and Dragons and are truly a visual delight to the visitor to Zinn’Sunn to see.
Architecture
The most important is the emphasis in Kemite architecture is the focus on the horizontal axis, in particular the construction of a heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls not as well emphsed. Another important feature of Zinn’Sunn its use of symmetry, which connotes a sense of grandeur; this applies to everything from palaces to farmhouses. A notable exception is in the design of gardens, which tends to be as asymmetrical as possible. The principle underlying the garden's composition is to create enduring flow and also to emulate nature.
Mid level citizens tended have similar structural patterns in regards to how their homes are built. The center of the building would be a shrine for Torek and the ancestors, which would also be used during festivities. On its two sides were bedrooms for the elders; the two wings of the building were for the junior members of the family, as well as the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen, although sometimes the living room could be very close to the center.
Sometimes the extended families became so large that one or even two extra pairs of "wings" had to be built. This resulted in a U-shaped building, with a courtyard suitable for farm work. Merchants and bureaucrats, however, preferred to close off the front with an imposing gate. All buildings are legally regulated, and Zinn’Sunn law dictates that the number of stories, the length of the building and the colors used depended on the owner's class.
Gardening and Water Sculpture
Perhaps due to their love of the arts and their longing for their displaced homeland, Kemites tend to favor long rambling gardens that mimic nature combined with stunning water sculpture displays. It is a common belief among the people that a garden is truly blessed when a piece of the sky is captured within it in the form of a reflecting pool. Hence, the entire city of Zinn’Sunn is magnificently landscaped with numerous water features and an overabundance of both symmetrical and asymmetrical gardens. Many Kemites practice the art of growing trees in miniature within their homes, sculpting them into unusual shapes and lovingly guiding them to bloom when and where they wish them too.
Linear Mode
