Editor's Note
The two sessions of the National People's Congress in 2022 are about to be convened, and this year's congress is also the last plenary session of the current National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The past five years have been five years of tremendous and extraordinary changes in the country's development. Many deputies to the Guangdong National People's Congress and members of the CppcC National Committee living in Guangdong have proceeded from Guangdong's actual conditions and resonated with the same frequency as the country's development needs, put forward one batch after another batch of high-quality bills and proposals, and contributed Guangdong's wisdom to promoting social development while performing their duties of participating in and discussing state affairs.
The story of the performance of duties experienced by the deputies and members is the epitome of the story of China and the times since the Nineteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
"South" magazine all-media reporter 丨 shadow
Video reporter 丨Lu Zhike Li Ran
On February 22, when a reporter from Nanfang magazine walked into the stone mill studio in Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Xu Hongfei, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of the Guangzhou Sculpture Institute, was creating a huge relief. The mud sketch on the wall was scraped by Xu Hongfei, and the outline of the characters became clear. The fiery enthusiasm for creation is in stark contrast to the cold outside.
Xu Hongfei, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of the Guangzhou Sculpture Institute, is creating a huge relief.
A native of Guangdong, Xu Hongfei is well known to the public for his series of sculptures with the theme of "Fat Girl". Since 2018, Xu Hongfei, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has put forward a total of 6 individual proposals and 16 collective proposals. How did he feel during his tenure? What kind of proposals will he bring to Beijing with the upcoming two sessions of the National People's Congress? Xu Hongfei wiped the red mud from his hands and gave an exclusive interview to Southern Magazine in the studio.
Art and humor are the languages of the world
Going to Beijing to attend the two sessions of the National People's Congress, Xu Hongfei's proposal was "Telling The Story of China Well and Helping Civilization Exchanges."
"Artists should tell Chinese stories well and contribute to cultural strength through their works." Over the years, Xu Hongfei has actively participated in social investigations and research, continued to pay attention to the practice of sending art to the countryside, and called for contributing cultural strength, the integration of industry and art to help rural revitalization, as well as promoting the diversification of foreign cultural exchanges and comprehensively enhancing international influence.
Since 2013, Xu Hongfei has completed a total of 43 "Xu Hongfei Sculpture World Tour Exhibitions" in France, Australia, Italy, Spain and other places, and a series of works such as "Anti-epidemic", Rural Revitalization, and Sports have spread Positive Energy in China with a unique sculpture language, forming a unique symbolic artistic IP, and profound Chinese cultural elements have been well received overseas. With the global tour exhibition, Xu Hongfei continues to accumulate precipitation, and has the insight of Chinese culture from "going out" and "walking in" to "please go out" and "please go back".
"Chinese culture must not only be able to 'go out', but also 'go in', and strive to 'please go out' and 'please go back'." It is not difficult to go out, but we still need to go into the mainstream, and to get all-round acceptance from the people to the media and the government is to truly 'go in'. The work is recognized, and we as artists are invited out. Over the years many countries have invited us, which is 'please go out'. Because the content of the work is good, I will be invited by the local government again, which is 'please go back'. Xu Hongfei said.
During the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, an exhibition entitled "Hello Year of the Tiger" was held simultaneously in Guangzhou and Salamanca, Spain, causing onlookers. Among them, the plump and cute "fat girl" interacts with the tiger - the sculpture called "Tiger Tiger Wind" is full of laughter in front of the sculpture. The citizens of Salamanca, Spain, are no strangers to this batch of "fat women" from China, and they are not unfamiliar with the sculptor Xu Hongfei from China, because this is the fourth year that Xu Hongfei has been invited to participate in Salamanca.
"Hello, Year of the Tiger" Xu Hongfei sculpture world tour exhibition 43rd stand in Salamanca, Spain, is deeply loved by the local people.
Modeling is the language of sculpture, concise and powerful, strong sense of space, no need to translate, this is the commonality of sculpture. From the work "Fat Dance in the Year of the Pig", "Hello in the Year of the Ox!" From this year's "2022 Tiger and Tiger" series of works, the happy style of the traditional Chinese zodiac sign and "fat girl", the works are loved by local citizens, and each exhibition attracts a large number of citizens and tourists to take a group photo in front of the sculpture. Many people praised Xu Hongfei, believing that these sculptures brought joy to the city. This group of sculptures for this year's Spring Festival was called by Salamanca citizens as "using this humor to dilute the depression of the epidemic in the city".
"Whether it's in London's Guildhall Square, on the streets of Salamanca, or on Sydney Opera House Square... The exhibitions in each place can interact directly with the people in important venues in the city, so that they can find that the original Chinese is also so humorous. Humor, like art, is the 'language of the world' and has a powerful appeal. Xu Hongfei firmly believes that a number of sculptures such as "Fat Girl" as cultural messengers can make the world see China's wealth and self-confidence more, which is a good way to communicate with the outside world.
Each exhibition attracts local citizens and tourists to take a group photo in front of the sculpture.
In the interview, he has repeatedly expressed his hope to create works with uniqueness, creativity and commonality to let foreigners feel the changes in China, tell Chinese stories through their works, and show the image of China's health, happiness, happiness and self-confidence on the world stage.
Happy Mountain Township is a wonderful Chinese story
In Xu Hongfei's world tour, animals became an indispensable element of the "Fat Girl" series. Xu Hongfei told the "South" magazine reporter that the inspiration for these sculptures without exception comes from rural China.
Xu Hongfei is creating a sculpture of the "Fat Girl" on the theme of ice and snow sports.
"The countryside is the starting point of my artistic career, and my art comes from life, from the grassroots, from this land, and from the lovely people." Under this original intention, Xu Hongfei has walked through the 17th stop of "Art Boosts Rural Revitalization Xu Hongfei Sculpture Art Hundred Villages Exhibition".
In November 2021, Xu Hongfei walked into the Yao village in Liannan with his sculpture "Fat Year Fat Dance". The grandmother, who is in her 80s, also studied sculptures with the group. She first touched the sculpture and said, "It feels slippery." Then she said, "You pig can't be killed right away." The two simple words made Xu Hongfei can't help but laugh. In the eyes of the elderly, the pigs in the general family must be fed at least 150 pounds or more, so the sculpture in front of them is far from "up to standard". This pure and simple perspective surprised Xu Hongfei with surprise.
The interaction between the "fat girl" and the pig, this happy work infected foreign audiences, and walking into the countryside, there was a different kind of resonance. The artworks have gone from "high above" in the exhibition hall to the rural fields, touching art for many villagers who may not have been exposed to sculpture exhibitions in their lifetime.
"In the high and low cottages, in the green rice fields, in the country roads, the addition of art makes the countryside more poetic and romantic." The changes in the whole environment have made the villagers feel close to art. Children will also be enlightened by art unconsciously. Xu Hongfei said.
These perceptual understandings, after Xu Hongfei's systematic investigation and thinking, have become his proposals and suggestions for "sending art to the countryside to contribute cultural strength, and the integration of production and art to help rural revitalization".
"Proposals are generated through research and artistic practice, and this is how I perform my duties." Xu Hongfei told reporters that in recent years, he has investigated nearly 50 villages in Guangdong, and brought sculpture art into the countryside while investigating. Taking Liannan Millennium Yaozhai as an example, Xu Hongfei's Fat Girl series exhibition in 2009 has been here. Art has injected vitality into the revitalization of the countryside, and when he came to Yaozhai again twelve years later, Xu Hongfei found that more and more tourists were attracted here.
This experience also feeds back xu Hongfei's artistic creation, and he integrates this sense of happiness from the great changes in the mountains and countryside of Guangdong into the sculpture. In his eyes, because these works reflect the changes of the times, no matter where the sculpture takes to other places, it will naturally resonate.
"When these works stand on a tour abroad, they show the countryside, and this emotion is also the world." From this point of view, the happy mountain village is an excellent Chinese story. Xu Hongfei said.
Record the times with your work
Located on the workbench on the basement floor of the stone mill, a red clay shape to be completed attracted the attention of the reporter of Southern magazine. The humanoid structure made of steel wire seems to be in the air, and the wall next to it is pasted with instant photos of athletes sliding down the U-shaped field.
From "One World, One Dream" in 2008 to "Together to the Future" in 2022, Xu Hongfei has continuously recorded the times with his sculptures. In 2020, Xu Hongfei's football-themed Breakthrough was collected by Real Madrid Football Club. In the sculpture, two "fat women" are struggling to compete for a football. Power and beauty, revealed.
"The times are rolling forward, and artists must continue to have works, and the new era must have new works, and use works to record the times." Xu Hongfei told reporters that at present, he continues to conduct research across the country, promotes creation with research, and drives international exchanges with original works. Next, he will make the next stop on sculpture in villages such as Xinjiang, Tibet and Guizhou.
Xu Hongfei is using actions to make artistic creation a powerful carrier for conveying China's new image, disseminating contemporary Chinese values, and adhering to unique forms of artistic expression to make Chinese stories more exciting.
This article is responsible for editing 丨 Jiang Yu
Co-ordinator 丨 Guo Fang Wang Hongwang
Edited by Mo Qun Li La
Proofreading 丨 Hua Chengmin
Source 丨Nanfang Magazine WeChat public account