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Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War, “A Heroic Ode to China — A Retrospective Exhibition of Xu Xingzhi’s Artistic Achievements” was jointly organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the China Artists Association. Featuring over 400 exhibits, it reviews the oeuvre of Prof. Xu Xingzhi by showcasing his artistic achievements covering films, paintings, literature, theater, and art theory.
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The exhibition was unveiled on the 94th anniversary of the September 18 Incident for the purpose of “remembering history and defending justice”. “Arise! we who refuse to be slaves! With our flesh and blood, let us build our new Great Wall!”, the lyrics from the song “March of the Volunteers”, was born in 1935 in the classic film A Poem of The Great Wall directed by Prof. Xu Xingzhi. The film tells the story of those who went to the front to fight against the Japanese invaders in Northeast China in the 1930s. Moving and powerful, it gave voice to Chinese people’s determination to sacrifice themselves for national liberation and conveyed China’s admirable tradition of courage, resolution and unity in fighting foreign aggression. The song was officially decided to be adopt as the National Anthem of the PRC on Dec 4, 1982.
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A Publicity Page of A Poem of The Great Wall originally published on DIAN TONG (Film Reports) No. 2 in 1935
A Still of A Poem of The Great Wall in February, 1935, Photo by Jin Shisheng
A Still of A Poem of The Great Wall
Prof. Xu Xingzhi (1904–1991) was a renowned Chinese artist, art historian and theorist, art educator, film and theater director, pioneer of the Left-Wing Art Movement, cultural warrior, member of the China Artists Association, and professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He graduated from the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts and the Tokyo School of Fine Arts in Japan. In 1930, he helped organize the Left-Wing art group “Society of the Times” and was elected the first president of the Chinese League of Left-Wing Artists. As a representative of the Left-Wing cultural movement, Prof. Xu Xingzhi unleashed remarkable creativity across the four dimensions of fine arts, film, theater, and literature, and as an art theorist and educator, he sowed the seeds of revolution into the soil for the founding of PRC. Observing the footsteps of this cultural pioneer, we can not only review the legend of an individual artist, but a blueprint for the modern transformation of Chinese art in the 20th century can also be unfolded in the exhibition.
In September 1978, Xu Xingzhi created the oil painting March of the Crystal World at his home.
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This versatile artist, skilled in fine arts, film, theater, and literature, was both a pioneering practitioner of artistic creation and a diligent researcher, writer, disseminator of literary theory. Prof. Xu Xingzhi made outstanding contributions to the development of art history and theory and the cultivation of art talent. Through translations, he introduced modern art theory to China, wrote literary and artistic treatises and criticisms, transforming the concept of “art for the people” into concrete teaching practices and cultivating numerous literary and artistic warriors who integrated artistic ideals with social responsibility. Through cross-disciplinary creative practice, he has shaped the aesthetic standards of Left-Wing literature and art and also revealed to later generations that a genuine artistic innovation stems from a profound observation of reality and represents the mutual illumination of the individual and the era.
Exhibition Vie
About the Exhibition
Dates: 2025-09-18 - 2025-10-19
Organizers: China Artists Association, Central Academy of Fine Arts
Co-organizers：Publicity Department of the Party Committee, Central Academy of Fine Arts, CAFA History Research Center, CAFA Art Museum, CAFA School of Humanities, Oil Painting Department
Supporting Organization: Chinese People's Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall, China Film Association, China National Film Museum
Executive Producer: Xu Yang, Lin Mao
Academic Advisor: Sun Jingbo
Academic Director: Cao Qinghui
Project Planning: Qin Jianping, Xu Xinli, Huang Xiaofeng, Yuan Yuan
Exhibition Director: Jin Jun, Han Wenchao
Exhibition Coordinator: Gao Gao, Hai Jun, Yu Runsheng, Wu Qiong
Curator: Xu Guoqing
Curatorial Implementation: Li Yaochen, Li Jie
Exhibition Coordination: Zhao Jing, Liu Xiyan, Wang Yu, Sun Wen
Design Director: Ji Yujie
Exhibition Acknowledgments: National Art Museum of Chin,a Long Museum, Taikang Insurance Group Co., Ltd., Zhiyi Foundation, Wang Wei, Shi Junzhao, Huang Jun, Dong Rui
Courtesy of CAFA Art Museum, edited by CAFA ART INFO.
