From August 2020 to August 2021, the Literature and Art Department of the People's Daily, in cooperation with the China Artists Association, launched the "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" column in the art edition of the literary supplement, inviting famous comic artists across the country to create and depict moving stories in the battle against poverty. The column continues to launch 35 issues of 209 comic strips, with pictures and texts of artistic narratives, bringing spiritual strength and beauty to the majority of readers, which has been widely praised by all walks of life. The column was included in the annual theme publishing project by Phoenix Publishing Group. The book "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting", which includes all the works in this column, was recently published by Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House and was selected as a key publication of Jiangsu Province Theme Publishing.
In the golden autumn of 2021, Fang Jiangshan, deputy editor-in-chief of People's Daily, wrote a preface to this book, and the following is the full text of the preface.
Silent poems in praise of the thousand autumns
——Preface to the comic strip collection "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting"
Each painting pays tribute to the unrepentant struggle, and each stroke condenses the upward strength. Turning over the comic strip collection "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting", 35 stories and 209 fine art works, with delicate and unique brushstrokes, paved out for us a picture of the times of great changes in mountains and countryside, splendid mountains and rivers, wrote for us the next magnificent chapter that can be sung and wept, and also vividly portrayed for us an image of a poverty alleviation heroic model full of home and country feelings and shining faith. Dripping water reflects the sun, and a branch sees spring. These works enable people not only to feel the diversity and richness of the art styles of comic strips in the new era, but also to perceive the grandeur of the great practice of poverty alleviation.
When I closed the sample book of the comic strip collection "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting", a magnificent picture came back to my mind - on July 1 this year, at the scene of the cheers at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly declared on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square: "After the continuous struggle of the whole party and the people of all ethnic groups in the country, we have achieved the first centenary goal, built a well-off society in an all-round way on the land of China, and historically solved the problem of absolute poverty. We are moving forward with vigor toward the second centenary goal of building a socialist modern power in an all-round way. The sonorous and powerful voice reverberated in Tiananmen Square for a long time, penetrating time and space, and engraving a great and glorious historical moment in people's minds!
"The way to govern the country begins with enriching the people." The rule of shunzhi in the world is in the wealth of the people, and the peace of the world is in the music of the people. Eliminating poverty, improving people's livelihood, and achieving common prosperity are the essential requirements of socialism, an important embodiment of the CPC's fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly, and a major responsibility of the party and the government. Over the past 100 years, our party has united and led the Chinese people and waged a long-term and arduous struggle to create a better life for the people. Especially since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has placed poverty alleviation in a prominent position in governing the country, and organized and implemented a people's war against poverty on an unprecedented scale, with the greatest intensity and the largest benefit in human history. At the important moment of greeting the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the battle against poverty has won a comprehensive victory, and China has completed the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty, which is not only a milestone event in the history of the development of the Chinese nation, but also a major event in the history of human poverty reduction and even the history of human development.
Literature and art are the clarion call of the times, which can best represent the style of an era and the atmosphere of an era. Raising the spiritual banner, establishing spiritual pillars, and building a spiritual homeland is the lofty mission of contemporary Chinese literature and art. It is the glorious mission entrusted by the times to literary and art workers to truly record the miracles of the world that have stood in the annals of history, profoundly interpret all the values that are for the people and rely on the people, and widely carry forward the spirit of unity of heart from top to bottom, fighting with all their might, being precise and pragmatic, pioneering and innovative, overcoming difficulties, and living up to the people's great spirit of poverty alleviation.
Danqing's xing, Biya song's narrative, the beauty of the great cause. In August 2020, the Literature and Art Department of the People's Daily took the initiative to plan, and cooperated with the China Artists Association to carefully organize, combining the layout characteristics with the characteristics of comic strips, and innovatively launched the "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" column in the form of "micro-comic strips" on the art edition of the People's Daily Literary and Art Supplement. On the one hand, the art forms that have ever had the most popular temperament, and on the other hand, the great practices that are now the most contemporary, I believed at the time that they must collide with the most brilliant sparks.
How to make the "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" series of works maintain a high level in terms of integrity and systematization? How to give full play to the unique artistic narrative power, content presentation power, aesthetic appeal and other advantages of comic strips? How to select characters and examples suitable for performance, determine the style that adapts to the length of the newspaper page, and tell the story clearly, fully, and vividly through pictures and accompanying texts... It is not easy to put these into practice. The editors of the Literary and Art Department of the People's Daily and the comic strip authors adhere to the "creative transformation and innovative development", pour a lot of time and effort, constantly explore and repeatedly polish, and gradually establish the "micro-comic strip", which is both literary and artistic expression - both adapting to the size of the newspaper and having a realistic weight; innovating the traditional model of comic strips, but also broadening the space for original content of art... With the advantages of short, flat and fast, the series of micro-comic strips "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" has quickly become a rare and unique new style of literature and art in theme publicity.
Good literary and artistic works are vivid reports of the times and vivid historical records. The comic strip collection "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" is divided into 6 chapters, including self-improvement, contribution, dedication, innovation, voice, and model, etc. The Chinese story and Chinese practice under the subtle brush are rich in pictures and texts, vivid and vivid, easy to understand, touching and profound, and the panoramic and multi-dimensional display of the magnificent picture of poverty alleviation in the magnificent mountains and rivers on the land of China.
These works are close to the perspective of the people, reflecting the big theme with small stories and small incisions, vividly showing the great practice of poverty alleviation that has changed the fate of countless people, realized the dreams of countless people, and achieved the happiness of countless people on the land of Shenzhou, integrating the progress and development of Chinese society into the picture, and making the new style and new vision of the Chinese people leap to the end of the pen.
These works focus on the power of example, create a large number of heroic models such as Mao Xianglin, Huang Wenxiu, Zhang Guimei, etc., who have flesh and blood, have feelings and righteousness, and have achieved extraordinary achievements in the ordinary, reflect the spiritual strength of communists who have always forged ahead, and sing the spiritual praise of communists who will always maintain their original mission.
These works show the new achievements of comic strip art in the new era, paying equal attention to realism and freehand, ideological and artistic, many of which are from the hands of contemporary comic book masters, which not only reflect the profound skills and superb skills of artists, but also show their careful depiction and emotional expression of the characters and stories in their pens, pour the people's joys and sorrows into their own pens, praise the struggle for life, portray the most beautiful characters, and strengthen people's vision and confidence in a better life.
Between the pen and ink, danqing, an ordinary but not ordinary story, a sincere and warm and touching plot, a national spirit that is full of breath and intestines, and the majestic strength of continuous struggle.
"Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" is not only an active exploration of new paths, new methods and new directions for theme publicity and planning, but also an active media practice of one-time collection, multiple generations, and continuous extension of content, transformation of forms, and expansion of radiation. The content is wonderful, and the communication is even more brilliant. With the support of Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, the column simultaneously launched integrated media products such as strips and short videos that are more in line with the reading habits of the public, fully realizing the diversified three-dimensional dissemination of graphic visual art, and continuously improving the reader's reading experience while being more grounded, more hot and more popular, and continuing to stir up readers' emotional resonance. Precious video materials such as the comic strip artist's creation talk show readers the stories behind more works, and further narrow the distance between readers and the protagonists and creators of comic strips.
Art is the universal language, and poverty reduction is a common challenge for human society. On overseas social media, the "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" column works with short words, intuitive images, and Chinese-style artistic language to share the poverty alleviation experience of "belonging to China and the world" with people around the world, and won the recognition and praise of many overseas netizens. In the future, we will continue to strengthen the in-depth innovation of combining concepts and means, the integration of content and form, strengthen the integration of various arts and technologies, strengthen the docking of the mind and creativity, and tell the Chinese story well, spread the Chinese voice, and display the real and three-dimensional China with the excellent art works that more foreign people can understand and enter, and still need to be completed by the majority of journalists and art workers.
Mo put Dan Qing and other idle looks, silent poetry in praise of Qianqiu. People's Daily has always attached great importance to the important role of art in recording the changes of the times and reflecting the voices of the people. Hua Junwu, Fang Cheng, Yingtao, etc., art editors of the older generation, are not only journalists but also well-known art workers, who have left valuable imprints in the history of the development of new Chinese art and left a fine tradition in the innovative practice of newspaper supplements. From the discussion on the creation of Chinese paintings, comics, New Year paintings and other fields at the beginning of the founding of New China, to the cross-border integration and development of the art field and the development of thematic art creation in recent years, the art edition of the People's Daily Literary and Art Supplement organized and published a large number of excellent articles and works, which effectively promoted the construction of art theory reviews and effectively guided the prosperity and development of art creation.
Journalism and art walking off the newsprint, entering professional museums, and compiling books will surely further expand their social aesthetic education functions. Soon after the launch of the "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" column, it received the attention of the National Museum of China, the National Art Museum of China and other institutions, and the works were collected and displayed, and many publishing institutions also expressed their willingness to publish. Nowadays, the comic book "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" is published by Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House, which is gratifying and congratulatory.
The flower of brilliant art must bloom in the rich soil of the great era. Today, we have embarked on a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country and marching toward the goal of the second centenary struggle. The new era and new stage and new journey call for more outstanding literary and artistic works to depict the beauty and happiness of this era, to record the development and changes of this era, and to carry the spirit and feelings of this era. It is hoped that with the comic strip collection "Poverty Alleviation Story Painting" as a new trigger, literary and artistic creation can continue to discover the "fire", lift the "lamp", explore the theme of creation in the great creation of the new era, capture the inspiration of innovation, and launch more acura party, acura motherland, acura people, acura heroes, acura era of fine masterpieces.
Fang Jiangshan in the autumn of 2021
Source | "People's Daily Literature and Art" WeChat public account
