Like being dotted by a magic brush, Shangwei Village has changed.
During the Spring Festival, the reporter walked into the walled village on Guanhu Street in Longhua District, Shenzhen City, and saw that the village that was once blocked by garbage had a new look. Between the white walls of green tiles and small bridges, paintings, pottery, sculptures and other works of bright colors can be seen everywhere, artists' studios, museums, exhibition halls are dotted with red lanterns, oil-paper umbrellas, etc., and the idyllic village life is accompanied by a strong artistic atmosphere.
Tourists visitEd at Sheung Wai Village on February 6. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liang Xu
This is an old Hakka village with a history of more than 400 years, located in the upper reaches of the Zhangkeng Trail River, because it is surrounded by mountains on three sides and is located at the foot of the mountain like a basin, so it is named Shangwei Village.
In the past, Shangwei Village was not like this. In the 1990s, Shangwei Village introduced many "three to one supplement" enterprises in the industrial transformation and invested in the construction of the Shangwei Industrial Park. As businesses and residents gradually increase, sewage flows into the river, and garbage piles up, and there are many dangers.
"Many villagers left their old houses and moved away." Villager Fang Jingqing said.
Since 2017, through the government's platform, artists and designers from all over the world have entered Shangwei Village.
Chen Rongge was one of the first designers to settle in Sheung Wai Village, where he made private products. "There's a park behind my studio, which started out as a junkyard, which was very impactful of creative passion." He said.
Today, the pieces of scrap iron in the garbage heap have become exquisite utensils in his hands, and many tourists come here to visit his studio.
The secluded trail in Shangwei Village, photographed on February 6. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liang Xu
Compared with Chen Rongge, Wang Lijun is a painter who "has no intention of inserting willows". In 2019, Wang Lijun, who casually came to Shangwei Village to walk around, felt that this place was very beautiful and directly lived there. He found a house with a courtyard in the village and found an abandoned ping-pong table to use as a place for his usual paintings. He also built a studio here under his nickname "Mai Ping".
Today, in the fast-paced Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Shangwei Village can be regarded as a quiet place for "slow life". Come is the guest, drink a good cup of tea, collide ideas, the "new owners" here visit each other to become new neighbors, they will also take visitors into the "spring water is blue in the sky, painting the boat to listen to the rain sleep" poetic scene.
"Usually paint for others, when they have free time, they sit at the neighbor's house, and everyone does not have to lock the door when they go out." But the artists here aren't just 'closed' to work. Wang Lijun said that before, some of the dilapidated houses in the village were transformed into exhibition halls by artists, "We want to build better here." ”
Chen Chuanpei is a graffiti artist who paints the walls of the village. "I'm working on some rural revitalization projects, and the experience of Sheung Wai Village has given me a lot of inspiration, not only the atmosphere created by the artists, but also the supporting facilities made by the government." He said, "Many villages are facing the problem of population relocation and abandoned ancestral houses, and I hope to preserve the local culture and show it back to the world." ”
Up to now, Shangwei Village has introduced nearly 100 cultural and artistic talents such as oil painting, Chinese painting, wood carving, seal carving, pottery, photography, design, etc., and 43 cultural and creative institutions (studios).
Shangwei Village was dressed up by artists. (Courtesy of the interviewee)
Today, old houses are revived in the hands of artists. With the Zhangkeng Trail River as the main line, connecting the century-old Hakka watchtowers, ancestral halls, leisure squares, Kowloon Wall, Banyue Lake and other elements distributed on both sides of the water system, a unique Hakka cultural style belt is accelerating the formation of Shangwei Village.
"I hope that my paintings will take root in Shangwei Village." Wang Lijun said, "This city is so inclusive, everyone can find a place to live in their dreams, and I am here." (Reporters Zhou Ke and Liang Xu)