The exhibition " Paingting Xinjiang: Xinjiang-focused Art since the 20th Century" showcases signature artworks from 20th century China that have Xinjiang as their subject matter. It focuses on the unique phenomenon in Chinese modern and contemporary art history, in which waves of artists travel to remote Xinjiang to create studies as a group artistic endeavor. The exhibition places emphasis on "Xinjiang" as visual reference and its influence on recent artists and their work, as well as artistic breakthroughs with the genre of "study." The result is a demonstration of explorations and achievements by Chinese artists since the 20th century, a historical contribution.
This exhibition will divide the historical period into four sections: the pioneer period before 1949, the New China period from 1949 to 1978, a new period centered on the Reform and Opening-up from 1979 to 2000, and the current period from 2000 until now. Through showcasing studies in Xinjiang from these four periods, the works focus on two core questions: study and Xinjiang. The exhibition will interpret how artists from different periods discover and interpret the visual treasure which is Xinjiang, and continue to explain why so many of artists in modern and contemporary China have chosen to travel to Xinjiang to paint. The questions the exhibition addresses include:
Firstly, how have the concept and practice of artistic studies developed and changed since the 20th century, and how have these changes functioned within the artistic expression process? Secondly, what role did the unique cultural and geographical characteristics of Xinjiang play in this artistic practice?
Studying, the method which sets the artist directly in front of his/her subject matter, has particular significance in the history of China's modernization period. Ever since the May 4th movement, Chinese intelligentsia such as Chen Duxiu and Kang Youwei have recommended the method, claiming that Chinese painting must borrow and learn from the realistic spirit of Western oil painting, to be used as a weapon against older culture. In his 1943 "Talks at the Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art," Chairman Mao Zedong argued that "the proper writer or artist must continuously, unconditionally and dedicatedly go to the masses of workers, farmers and soldiers, to where the fighting is thickest, to that single largest and richest resource, to observe, to experience, to study and to analyze all people, the original material of literature and art. Only then can you begin the process of creation." Thus, artistic studies have transformed from merely a technical preparation to a mode of practice, from which background also sprung the Chinese style of realism. Similarly, the Chinese concept of artistic study has prospered alongside with Chinese realism, neoclassicism.
Apart from discussing the act of creating studies itself, the unique cultural characteristics of the region must also be emphasized. Throughout history, Xinjiang has contributed significantly to the visual arts. Ancient cave paintings mark the birth of Eurasian civilization, Han and Tang period Buddhist statues carried the light of art to broad regions, and the silk road connects multiple cultures including China, India, Arabia and Greece. The uniqueness of Xinjiang gave rise to its singular cultural and geographical scenery, a source inspiration which attracted so many artists to create studies there. In the 20th century, great amounts of artists trained in the modern artistic language have come to the heart of Xinjiang. Through the process of absorbing Xinjiang's cultural richness, they have also changed the situation in which the region's figurative art was always held sway by religious factors. Studies in Xinjiang led people to discover anew the beauty of China's terrains, and inspired people to rethink the value of art and culture. It could be said that the act of artistic studies in Xinjiang is both a personal choice on the artist's part as well as closely tied to paradigm shifts in Chinese modern and contemporary art history.
The survey exhibition attempts to present the enormous changes that have happened to this land since the founding of the People's Republic of China. From the cultural interactions within a multi-ethnic country to the sustained development of diverse cultures in the era of globalization, we can gain insight into the developmental thread of China's art history since the 20th century.
Section Introductions
1. Passion and Adventure: Pioneers of Modern Xinjiang Artistic Studies (Before 1949)
With the development of transportations infrastructure in the 20th century, it gradually became fashionable for artists to travel westwards. The 1930s and 40s in particular saw masses of artists gathering in the west of China due to the civil war, the most characteristic of which are the artist groups of wartime Yan'an and Chongqing. While artists who traveled to the northwest did not raise as high volumes with their art as those in Yan'an did with their woodblock prints, their brave exodus from the ivory tower was nonetheless an inspiring act, eventually catalyzing a series of transformation in a number of artists: from learning from antiquities to learning from real life, from alienating themselves from the masses to approaching the masses. The exotic sceneries amplified their artistic awareness, furthered their techniques, and fostered their artistic personalities.
2. Discovery and New Chapters: The Westward Road under the Cultural Policies of New China (1949-1978)
The cultural policy of the new People's Republic of China took its directory from Chairman Mao Zedong's "Talks at the Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art," which encouraged artists to join all ethnic peoples in their daily lives to enrich their art, as well as promoting the ethnic peoples to objects of odes and praise of the new art. The cultural needs of Xinjiang at the time, joined with the charms of Xinjiang as depicted by artistic predecessors, encouraged a new generation of artists to board the westward trains. Art of this period emphasizes the development of socialism in Xinjiang and its participants. The period also sees a sharp growth in the number of artists to come to the area. With its exquisite peoples and sceneries, the beautiful lands of Xinjiang became a grand classroom for the furthering of artistic techniques and understanding of artistic laws. Depicting Xinjiang was no longer an individual act, but a shared group endeavor.
3. Grandiose and Sublime: Aesthetic Explorations in the New Period (1979-2000)
At the beginning of the new period, marked by the commencement of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 1979, as the Reform and Opening-up reaches the Tianshan regions, a new wave of painting Xinjiang rises as artists from all over the country follow their precursor's footsteps into Xinjiang. Avoiding the popularized creative methods of the Cultural Revolution, they attempt to find purity of subject matter and mysterious aesthetic elements in the ethnic peoples of Xinjiang, to further develop their art.
4. History and Reality: Perspectives of the New Century (since 2000)
In the 21st century, modern life and heritage came together to shape the new face of modern Xinjiang. On the one hand, artistic creations about Xinjiang deepened its exploration of the unique color language formed by the natural and cultural geography, on the other hand, artists shifted from superficial exoticism toward humanistic care and concentration on life. Breaking away from the sole methodology of realism, they combined the methods of studying from real life and field work, borrowed from the various artistic concepts and expressions from modernism, and moved from realist studying toward a fusion of "contemporary idea."
5. Case Studies in Contemporary Art Practice
With the coming of postmodernity, globalization, information technology, artificial intelligence and the metaverse, the contemporary art practice of China also exhibits a multicultural and diverse state. Especially with the recent rise in theories such as humanistic ethics, the ontological turn in anthropology and ethnography of diversity, so too have artists come to realize that the seemingly complex nature is in fact an environment sustained and reproduced by free individuals. Thinking about our roles from a perspective of cohabitation might be beneficial to relocate our history and culture in an age of advanced technology. Situated in this background, the artists showcased in this section fully represent these characteristics, and are exhibited as meaningful case studies.
Although the ethnic peoples depicted by these artists remain in the role of others, they are shown for the first time as the common people that they are, dressed in everyday clothes and living their everyday lives. They no longer smile and dance like stereotypes. In fact, they might have had exchangeable roles as Han people in reality.
2023-07-17
2023-08-10
2023-08-15
2023-08-27