– It is the first time for the students admitted by the Department of Mural Painting, CAFA over the first three years to hold an exhibition together, through their various expressive forms they are able pay tribute to the alma mater with the coming of the 100th anniversary of CAFA.
– They had deliberated over countless titles for the show, then 15 people finally gathered under the theme “Get in Xiaowei Street”.
– “Get in Xiaowei Street”, in Beijing, specifically meaning that: “Get out of the No.5 Xiaowei Hutong in Wangfujing – the birthplace of China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)” – which recalls a special identity and memory!
– More than 20 years ago, the campus of only 50 acres, was smaller than several regional academies in China and had less students than other institutions. But it is still a place that is hard to forget and the best loved place for the “CAFA’s graduates,” so that it is an unforgettable “birthplace”!
– In the tide of “reform and innovation,” the academy emancipated the mind, adjusted the structure of professional teaching over time, innovating disciplinary construction – the major of “mural painting” of CAFA, rose during the historic moment – led by Hou Yimin, Li Huaji, Liang Yunqing, a group of teachers with bold characters and a vision of aspiring to “revive the extinct”, to inject the academic idea so as to keep pace with the times of the oldest art form. The students admitted to the Department of Mural Painting, CAFA over the first 3 years – a total of 15 people – young people that dare to be the first to trial innovation, were curiously and arrogantly exploring the “pioneer period” of “learning” and “teaching”.
– Mural painting, is not a “type” of painting, but demands a design according to the environment of the building and mural painting is widely involved in all plastic arts – Chinese painting, oil painting, printmaking, sculpture … on everything that one expects to find.
– Mural painting, accepts the work of “proposition”, demands that the creation is according to the connotation of the building, the theme, content and expressive form of mural painting embodies the spirit and style of architectural space – ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, representational and abstract...
– Mural painting, is always a large-scale painting, everyone can be a muralist of a “project”, a designer, a negotiator, the organizer of the team, the foreman who initially bears the hardship, the craftsman demonstrating skills, as Hou Yimin said: “The muralist should be the powerhouse of artists!”
– The pioneer stage, for teachers is when they face social practice each time as they then accept the “challenge” – an unexpected proposition, unexpected material with technical requirements, forcing one to start again and again, entering the practice, groping, looking for, learning, studying, finding, summarizing, turning things around, bringing experience into teaching - ceramics, painting, polished lacquer, embossed painting, mosaic, metal modeling, traditional Chinese deep-color painting, Western frescoes … entering the structural course of the teaching of mural painting for the first time.
– The pioneer stage, for students is when they sometimes find themselves standing on the same starting line together with the teachers. In front of new things, young people’s special sensitivity, the thinking that was not constrained by habit, brings “surprise” enlightenments to the teachers during the practice and creation. The teachers and students of the pioneer stage can then understand the true meaning of the “teaching that benefits teachers as well as students” said Confucius.
– Every dog has its day. After more than 20 years – the students of the first three years (Wang Yihua, Zhu Yan, Li Chen, Ning Fangqian, Gu Yunrui, Li Tianyuan, Wang Peng, Feng Jie, Song Changqing, Cai Dong, Ma Tao, Zheng Yuke, Xiao Yu, Shang Tun), who are all over 50 years old. Some have been a father, or a mother, or a teacher, or a leader in the field, – gradually understanding “to raise children to know their parents,” although the alma mater was out of the “Xiaowei Hutong”, the connection and love is kept – they meet together and come to the new campus in Wangjing to search for the plate of “No.5 Xiaowei Hutong” and then talked about the times past with the old teachers. In order to pay back for the upbringing of the alma mater, they plan the exhibition together! – On the occasion of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of CAFA, “the powerhouse of artists” intend to preempt the “first chance”, kicking off the “CAFA’s Alumni – Go Home to See” in advance. – Entering the CAFA Art Museum – as the former teacher in charge of the class, I will stand together with them to welcome the visit and offer guidance!
Excerpts of the “Memories of the Birthplace” written by Sun Jingbo at Room “Le Guan” at Fangzhouyuan in Beijing, in August 8, 2015
About the exhibition
Host: CAFA
Organizers: CAFA Art Museum, Department of Mural Painting, CAFA, Anhui Fine Arts Publishing House, Anhui Shi Dai Yi Pin Culture Communication Co., Ltd.
Academic Chair: Sun Jingbo
Curator: Wang Huangsheng
Executive Curator: Liu Yimo, Qi Peng
Participating Artists: Wang Yihua, Zhu Yan, Li Chen, Ning Fangqian, Gu Yunrui, Li Tianyuan, Wang Peng, Feng Jie, Song Changqing, Cai Dong, Ma Tao, Zheng Yuke, Xiao Yu, Shang Tun
Duration: October 20 - November 25, 2015
Venue: Gallery 3B, CAFA Art Museum
Media Guiding: 14:00, October 20, 2015
Opening Ceremony: October 20, 2015, 15:00
Seminar: October 20, 2015, 16:00
Courtesy of the CAFA Art Museum, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO, for further information please visit http://museum.cafa.com.cn.
