Why did the National Print Exhibition choose Meizhou Xingning?

On December 28th, the "90th Anniversary of China's Emerging Printmaking Movement - National Printmaking Exhibition" was officially opened. The exhibition is sponsored by the China Artists Association and the Propaganda Department of the Meizhou Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, and organized by the Art Center of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Guangdong Provincial Artists Association, the Meizhou Municipal Federation of Literature and Literature, and the Xingning Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government. Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the live exhibition of The Xingning Convention and Exhibition Center was moved online and exhibited on the official website of the China Artists Association.

Why did you choose Xingning for the 90th Anniversary Exhibition of China's Emerging Printmaking Movement? Not only because it is related to the origin of the emerging printmaking movement, it has cultivated a group of influential printmakers at home and abroad, but also because after nearly a hundred years, printmaking still has a strong vitality in Xingning.

Iron pen raw flowers, wooden boards to make paper, carving cultural business cards. Walk into the small city of Xingning in northeast Guangdong, learn the story of emerging printmaking and the hometown of printmaking, and explore the reasons for the long-term prosperity of emerging printmaking in Xingning.

The picture shows the scene of the creation of the print. South + He Senyao photographed

Xingning Power

Nearly half of the "first generation warriors" of the emerging printmaking movement came from Xingning

Woodcut prints are the most revolutionary and influential art in modern Chinese art.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the emerging printmaking movement. The emerging printmaking movement originated from the needs of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and at that time it was used as an important means of propaganda against Japan, using the form of art to arouse the people and resist Japan to save the dead.

90 years ago, Mr. Lu Xun invited the Japanese printmaker Uchiyama Cargill to hold China's first woodcut seminar in Shanghai, which marked the rise of China's emerging printmaking movement, and the members who participated in this seminar and the printmakers who were later influenced by Mr. Lu Xun were known as the "first generation of fighters" of China's emerging printmaking movement.

Among the "first generation of warriors", Luo Qingzhen, Chen Tiegeng, Chen Zhuokun, Zhang Hui, Zhong Buqing, Huang Shanding, Deng Qifan, as well as Luo Yingqiu, Wang Li, Huang Yan, Zhang Yunhui and other famous printmakers are all Xingning people.

They used their pens for guns, and in those years when the flames were burning, they used their paintbrushes to participate in the anti-Japanese resistance and publicize the War of Resistance.

One of the organizers of China's first revolutionary art group, the "18Thir Art Society," was Chen Zhuokun. Chen Zhuokun, also known as Chen Guang, often under the guidance of Lu Xun, embarked on revolutionary art activities based on woodcut creation activities, and joined the Communist Party of China in 1931. The little-known and precious first portrait of Lu Xun in China was written by Chen Zhuokun.

In the winter of 1932, Chen Tiegeng participated in the organization of the "Wild Spike Woodcut Society", "M.K Woodcut Research Society", "Spring Thunder Art Research Institute" and "Wild Wind Painting Society" in Shanghai. He cooperated with Jiang Feng, Ai Qing, YeFu and other progressive woodcarvers to hold painting exhibitions, print anti-Japanese pictorials and anti-Japanese leaflets, and assist the Northeast Volunteer Army in resisting the Japanese invaders.

Among the pioneers of the emerging printmaking movement, Luo Qingzhen was highly respected. Lu Xun spoke highly of Luo Qingzhen's artistic achievements: "There are many people who are good at woodcuts, and there are more in Guangdong, and I think the best ones are Li Hua and Luo Qingzhen." "Luo and Li, their technology is very good in China."

In January 1934, in order to promote Modern Chinese prints to the world, Lu Xun selected 58 works by young Chinese woodcarvers and exhibited them in France and the Soviet Union. Luo Qingzhen's "Squeeze" and other 6 works and his 5 works of Song Middle School students account for almost one-fifth of the total works in the exhibition.

The pioneers of the emerging printmaking movement all faced the social reality with a critical eye, paid attention to the poor social bottom with a positive attitude, and tried their best to arouse the people's sense of struggle. Among them, the works of Xingning printmakers, from content to form, fully embody the simple and powerful aesthetic character of woodcuts, and all have a common characteristic, radical thinking, concise knife technique, rigorous and fine, black and white, bold and majestic, full of the beauty of strong force.

Under their influence and drive, Xingning has increasingly formed a historical status of "the hometown of printmaking in southern China".

Xingning features

Integrate the art of printmaking into urban construction

Walking in Hexi Village, Yetang Town, Xingning City, you are often attracted by the huge dragon houses with an area of about 15,000 square meters and three halls and four horizontal structures in the village. This unique dragon house with carved dragons and phoenixes and glass windows is called Pan'an Wai, which has a history of 125 years and is a cultural relics protection unit in Guangdong Province.

Inside Pan'an Wai, there are exhibition areas for anti-war woodcut works, exhibition areas for Luo Yingqiu printmaking works, exhibition areas for Qingzhen printmaking clubs, and exhibition areas for printmaking works in the new era and new era, and you can see the printmaking works of different authors in various periods.

"We came from Chaozhou, which also has prints but completely different styles. Xingning is the hometown of southern printmaking, famous for a long time, and today it has finally opened its eyes. Tourist Ms. Wu said.

The Xingning printmakers in the "first generation of warriors" made Xingning quite famous in the printmaking industry at home and abroad, and they brought their printmaking skills back to Xingning, so that the people of their hometown loved and inherited this art, and the practitioners of printmaking in Xingning gradually increased.

In order to commemorate Luo Qingzhen, the pioneer of the Xingning printmaking movement, carry forward the realist tradition of the emerging printmaking revolution, and promote the further development of mass printmaking creation in Xingning, on June 20, 1980, under the leadership of the old printmakers Luo Yingqiu and Mr. Wang Li, 16 new and old printmakers in Xingning established the Qingzhen Printmaking Society.

Qingzhen printmaking will affect the present day and become the cradle of Xingning printmakers.

Contemporary prints are relatively difficult because they are self-painted, self-carved and self-printed by the painter himself. Complex and delicate creation is doomed to its long creative process, and it generally takes many months or even years for a print to take shape.

In the 1990s, as the pace of people's lives accelerated, the market value of prints that required a long creative period gradually declined. It is precisely because prints cannot be sold at a good price, and some domestic creative talents are lost.

But in Xingning, because of the existence of the Qingzhen Printmaking Association and the support of the Xingning Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, talents engaged in printmaking creation are emerging in an endless stream.

"From the late 1990s to the beginning of this century, many high schools and vocational school art classes in Xingning set up special printmaking courses. I've been exposed to printmaking since I was in high school. Deng Wei, a 36-year-old staff member of the Xingning Cultural Center, is a printmaking enthusiast, and his printmaking works have won many awards in China and the province.

Nowadays, in Xingning Primary and Secondary Schools, students can often be seen creating prints. There is a second class in the school, which is very popular with students. Members of the Xingning Artists Association and the Qingzhen Printmaking Association also often go to the campus to promote the creation of printmaking.

At the Xingning City Cultural Center, children are taking printmaking lessons. Courtesy of respondents

With the advancement of rural revitalization, Xingning prints have also been able to shine again. In parks, scenic spots, rural cultural activity stations and villagers' homes throughout Xingning, printmaking elements can be seen everywhere, and the atmosphere of printmaking is becoming increasingly strong.

Xingning potential

Through the National Printmaking Exhibition

Once again, the popularity of the land of printmaking was launched

On December 28th, the "90th Anniversary of China's Emerging Printmaking Movement - National Printmaking Works Exhibition" was launched on the official website of the China Artists Association, and 258 works from printmakers across the country attracted literary and art lovers to punch in and watch.

In March this year, the Xingning Municipal People's Government signed a contract with the China Federation of Literary and Art Center to determine the 90th anniversary of China's emerging printmaking movement - the national printmaking exhibition was held in Xingning City. This is the second time that Meizhou has hosted a large-scale national exhibition after successfully holding the "Commemoration of the 120th Anniversary of mr. Lin Fengmian's Birth - National Exhibition of Chinese Paintings (Landscapes and Birds) in the Hometown of Kedu Meizhou Fengmian" in November 2019.

"We originally adopted the method of on-site exhibition hall, but at present, there are many uncertainties in the new crown pneumonia epidemic in China, so we changed to an online live exhibition, and moved the original exhibition location 'Xingning Convention and Exhibition Center' to online, so that people all over the country can watch the exhibition through the Internet." The relevant person in charge of the Organizing Committee of the National Printmaking Exhibition said that the exhibition has received full support from the Xingning Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government, moving from offline to online, and the effect has not decreased but increased.

According to reports, since the exhibition launched the call for papers in April 2021, it has received positive responses and enthusiastic submissions from artists across the country, and a total of 2344 works have been submitted nationwide. In line with the principles of openness, fairness and justice, after strict selection by the evaluation committee, 258 works were finally selected, of which 60 works had the qualifications to apply to join the China Beauty Association, and 198 works were selected.

"Modern printmaking has always played a role in inspiring people's morale and tempering the national spirit, whether in the past or in the present, printmaking has always played an important role in calling on people to unite and work hard. This exhibition is an important event to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the emerging printmaking movement, and it is of special significance to choose to be held in Xingning City, Meizhou. Du Songru, director of the China Artists Association and director of the exhibition department, said that the reason why the exhibition of the 90th anniversary of the Chinese emerging printmaking movement was held in Xingning is not only because Xingning has an important position in China's emerging printmaking movement, but also because the people of Xingning love and respect printmaking." In recent years, the party and government at the two levels of Meizhou City and Xingning City have focused on promoting the inheritance and development of fine arts and printmaking, and a large number of painters with high standards in printmaking have emerged, and have won awards in important national and provincial art exhibitions, showing great potential for development. ”

The printmaking exhibition is still ongoing, Xie Jingwen, chairman of the Xingning Artists Association and vice president of the Qingzhen Printmaking Association, said that he hopes that through the holding of this printmaking exhibition, the popularity of the hometown of Xingning printmaking will be further expanded, and the prosperity and development of The xingning art and printmaking industry will be promoted. "We will continue to spare no effort to develop and inherit the art of printmaking."

Original title:

"The 90th Anniversary of China's Emerging Printmaking Movement - National Printmaking Exhibition" was launched