Changbai Mountain Tianchi, sika deer herds, big flower jackets and farmhouse hot kang, as well as hard-working people working... Walking into the Dongfeng County Farmers' Painting Museum in Dongfeng County, Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province, a huge peasant painting "Kanto Beauty" comes into view.
Dongfeng peasant painting "Kanto Beauty" Author: Li Junmin, Li Junjie, etc
The peasant holds a paintbrush, and the words in the painting are "three rural areas". The image is simple, the color is bright, the composition is full, solemn and harmonious, Dongfeng peasant painting has a strong Kanto style, the peasants take root in the soil, rooted in life, close to the times, with a brush to paint the thoughts of labor, tell the story of "three rural areas", outline the beautiful life they yearn for.
Dongfeng peasant painting works: "Great American Dongfeng" Author: Lv Yanchun
Jilin Dongfeng County, together with Shanghai's Jinshan District and Shaanxi Hu County, is known as the hometown of the three major peasant paintings on the mainland. "Five mountains, one water, four fields", in Dongfeng County, where the Changbai Mountain branch had lingyu, has a superior natural environment, and was set aside as a Shengjing paddock in the Qing Dynasty, historically known as "Royal Deer Garden", which is the hometown of China's famous sika deer.
In the early 1970s, more than a dozen farmers in Hongshi Township, Dongfeng County, spontaneously set up a painting group, thus ushering in a new era of Dongfeng peasant painting. Art forms such as propaganda posters and New Year paintings, as well as poster paintings, became the objects of copying and creation by the author at that time.
In the 1980s, Zhang Yuyan's peasant painting "Happy Old Age" won the first prize of the first Chinese Peasant Painting Exhibition in 1983, laying the foundation for Dongfeng peasant painting. In 1988, Dongfeng County became one of the first batch of "Chinese Modern Folk Painting And Painting Townships" named by the Ministry of Culture; in 2009, Dongfeng Peasant Paintings were selected into the list of "Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage" in Jilin Province.
The progress of the times has promoted the rapid development of Dongfeng peasant painting. Borrowing the stone of his mountain, Toho peasant paintings are eclectic while highlighting the cultural characteristics of the Kanto Region, learning to absorb a variety of expression techniques, and using the magic brush of raw flowers to paint the prosperity of the times.
Peasant painting creators are painting
Free training courses, peasant painting exhibitions for farmers... In order to inherit and develop peasant painting and increase the construction of the peasant painting team, Dongfeng County organizes the training of peasant painting talents every year, and opens primary, intermediate and advanced peasant painting training classes for different levels, from interest entry, to improving techniques, to advanced training, combined with accurate positioning and targeted training such as farmers' painting into the classroom activities.
"Every year, the government will carry out free training courses for farmers and systematically teach them to draw." Yu Yongping, director of dongfeng County Farmers' Painting Museum, introduced, "Our painting museum will regularly open exhibitions to display the good works created by farmers, and look forward to further popularizing and publicizing peasant paintings through exhibitions, and also stimulating farmers' enthusiasm for creation." ”
The children participated in the Dongfeng Farmer Painting Workshop
After years of efforts, the team of peasant paintings in Dongfeng County has reached more than 52,000 people, of which the backbone authors have developed to more than 400 and the nationally renowned authors have reached more than 40 people.
Nowadays, Dongfeng farmers' painting is not only the interest of farmers in their spare time, but also a new means of income generation and prosperity with the joint efforts of many parties.
Paint public welfare posters, theme paintings, peasant paintings, ceramic peasant paintings... Peasant paintings changed from works to sales products, from the countryside to the homes of government agencies, enterprises and citizens. Dongfeng County relies on the strength of all parties to gather talents and open up sales channels for farmers.
Offline, the farmer painting industrial park integrating creation, exhibition and sales has become a signature store facing the market; on the Internet, the emerging ceramic farmer painting project has been incorporated into the e-commerce platform to achieve online sales, and the local Liu Dan ceramic peasant painting has also won the bronze medal of the 2018 Chinese characteristic tourism product competition.
Paint ceramic peasant paintings
The small farmer painting, with annual sales of more than 30 million, brings tangible benefits to farmers. With folk customs to benefit people's livelihood, Dongfeng County has found a way to increase income in folk customs.
"I can paint, my days are beautiful, my wallet is bulging, and my life is better!" In October 2020, the "Genius Mother" - Farmer Painting Handicraft Dream Workshop officially settled in Dongfeng County, with the strong support of the China Women's Development Foundation and the active drive of the Dongfeng County Women's Federation, over the past year, the workshop has more than 70 "genius mothers" to join it, organized 12 sessions of farmer painting creation training classes, and delivered the first batch of 1,000 orders for farmers' paintings. It has truly realized the "home" for low-income mothers engaged in peasant painting creation in Dongfeng County to work, employment, study and exchange.
"Genius Mom" shows peasant paintings
"Facing the future, Dongfeng County will strengthen the role of farmers' painting base, actively explore industrial development models, and promote cooperation between the government and cultural and creative enterprises." The relevant person in charge of the Propaganda Department of the Dongfeng County Party Committee said, "It is planned to broaden sales channels by further strengthening the cooperation between farmers' painting museums and enterprises, creating high-quality farmer painting tourism routes, etc., so that artistic characteristics can breed the development of cultural industries." ”
Text: Zheng Zhiwen
Photo and video footage: Propaganda Department of Liaoyuan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China Propaganda Department of Dongfeng County Committee of the Communist Party of China
Video Editor: Shi Tianjiao
LOGO design: Jiang Di
Planner: Meng Haiying Zheng Zhiwen
Coordinator: Zhu Sixiong
Source: People's Daily client Jilin Channel