This year is the 108th anniversary of the birth of the famous cartoonist Mr. Hua Junwu, in order to hold high the red banner of the Chinese comic industry, carry forward the fine tradition of art for the people, and promote the high integration and healthy development of cultural tourism in Dangkou Ancient Town, on December 15, "Returning to the Stream-Hua Junwu Comics Art Exhibition" opened in Dangkou Ancient Town, Xishan District, Wuxi City.
Feng Yuan, Deputy Director of the Central Research Institute of Culture and History and Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association, Li Qing, Director of the Comic Art Committee of the China Artists Association, Fang Li, Secretary of the Wuxi Xishan District Party Committee, Yang Jian, Secretary of the Party Group and Chairman of the Wuxi Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Gu Bicheng, Deputy Director of the Wuxi Press and Publication Bureau (Copyright Bureau), Xu Yue, Deputy Secretary of the Xishan District Party Committee and Minister of the Propaganda Department, Dai Xing, Deputy District Mayor, Hua Fangfang, the son of Mr. Hua Junwu, and Zhang Sui, daughter-in-law of Mr. Hua Junwu, attended the opening ceremony.
Feng Yuan used "persuading the world to make friends", "straightforward childlike innocence", "humor is a kind of wisdom" and "a contemplative life" to summarize Mr. Hua Junwu's artistic experience and artistic achievements. He pointed out that Mr. Hua Junwu's comic style is relaxed and exaggerated, but with a kind of fun, leaving a valuable spiritual wealth for future generations.
Li Qing told about several small things about Mr. Hua Junwu's relationship with young cartoonists, and believed that Mr. Hua Junwu was a real "popular art painter", whose works were acupuncture and deafening, but also down-to-earth and closely related to life. His creations have pointed out the direction for the exploration of Chinese comics, and he held a comic document exhibition on the occasion of the 108th anniversary of his birth, hoping to bring more thoughts to everyone.
In his speech, Fang Li pointed out that culture is the root and soul of a place. The holding of "Returning to the Stream-Hua Junwu Comic Documentary Exhibition" in Dangkou Ancient Town is not only a grand commemoration of the 108th anniversary of his birth, but also a vivid practice of Xishan's implementation of the major task of "exploring new experiences in building the modern civilization of the Chinese nation". It is hoped that this exhibition will be used as an opportunity to help Xishan further improve the quality and connotation of cultural construction, promote the high-quality development of cultural and tourism integration in Dangkou Ancient Town, and also hope that more literary and artistic talents and cultural tourism projects will take root and blossom in Xishan, and jointly write a more vivid new chapter in cultural inheritance and development.
Mr. Hua Junwu, whose ancestral home is Xishan Dangkou, is one of the most outstanding representatives of the Chinese comic industry in the 20th century, as well as an outstanding leader and promoter of the art industry in New China, and is known as the first Chinese cartoonist in the second half of the 20th century.
At the event, Mr. Hua Junwu's son Hua Fangfang told about his father's artistic life. Mr. Hua Junwu went to Yan'an when he was young, was personally taught by Chairman Mao Zedong and attended the Yan'an Literature and Art Symposium, practicing the path of national and popular artistic creation, and becoming a comic master who came out of Yan'an. Throughout his life, he experienced the chaos of war, received the baptism of the Holy Land, participated in the revolutionary struggle, and promoted the development of art. He was the longest-lived, accomplished and respected cartoonist in the field of modern Chinese comics in the 20th century, who not only made great contributions to the art of Chinese humor, but also had a profound impact on the development of modern Chinese art.
During the event, Xishan presented "The Crisis of China's Four Great Families" to Hua Fangfang. The book was published by Guanghua Bookstore in 1948 and is a satirical book co-edited by Mr. Hua Junwu and Sha Ying. In this book, Mr. Hua Junwu created a total of 18 cartoons. Hua Junwu's life is a pioneer of "cultural creativity" of the Chinese nation in the true sense of the word, with righteousness for history, brilliance for humanity, love for his family and country, and a pioneer for art.
Yi Cao, curator and director of the exhibition department of the National Art Museum of China, introduced the basic situation of this exhibition. Hua Junwu left thousands of works in his lifetime, and donated more than 2,600 of them to the state. This exhibition selects 108 works for exhibition, with themes related to society, children, animals, and leisure, showing Mr. Hua Junwu's artistic achievements in a more complete and comprehensive manner. For the first time, this exhibition also displays a chronology of nearly 10,000 words with pictures and texts, presenting the audience with a vivid, vivid and comprehensive Chinese Lao. More than 50 books published during his lifetime are also on display.
Xishan is an important birthplace of ancient Chinese Wu culture, with a long history and rich cultural context. In recent years, Xishan attaches great importance to cultural development, and has upgraded Dangkou Ancient Town into a new landmark of aesthetic life in Jiangnan Ancient Town led by culture and art, and interactive with tourism and experience, and has embarked on a road of cultural development with Xishan characteristics.
"Today, we hold the Huajunwu Comic Documentary Exhibition to further excavate the celebrity culture of the ancient town, carry forward the fine tradition of art for the people, and establish a new trend of cultural and tourism integration in Dangkou Ancient Town. The relevant person in charge of Dangkou Ancient Town said.
After the opening ceremony, the guests went to the Dangkou Ancient Town Culture and Art Center to visit the "Returning to the Stream-Hua Junwu Comic Documentary Exhibition". The exhibition is sponsored by the Propaganda Department of the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and supported by the Comic Art Committee of the China Artists Association. 108 representative comic works of Hua Junwu in various periods were carefully selected for display, as well as documents, pictures, videos, etc.
His comic works are presented in five sections
1. Battle Texts (7 pieces): 7 selected cartoons by Mr. Hua Junwu during the war years. During the war years, Mr. Hua Junwu used comics as a weapon to strike at the enemy and arouse the hearts of the people. His cartoons are like daggers thrown at the enemy, fully embodying the strong fighting spirit of comic art during the revolutionary period.
2. Social Friends (40 pieces): 40 selected social satirical cartoons of Mr. Hua Junwu. Mr. Hua Junwu faces life and pays attention to reality, just like the "woodpecker" of the times, with sharp and gentle brushstrokes, acupuncture and disadvantages, into the wood three points, edutainment in fun, but also Zhuang and harmonious.
3. The innocence of the child (15 pieces): Mr. Hua Junwu has a pure heart, he likes the innocence and purity of children, and his pen often reveals praise and love for children.
4. Humorous philosophy (29 pieces): Mr. Hua Junwu is good at anthropomorphizing animal images to satirize all kinds of ridiculous, lamentable, hateful and shameful phenomena in human society. The animal world has become a mirror of human society, from which you can get a glimpse of the world and the various states of life, which is not only hilarious, but also thought-provoking.
5. Accessible Life (17 pieces): Mr. Hua Junwu is good at discovering materials from daily life and creating a number of interesting leisure works, including self-portraits and portrait caricatures for friends. These works are witty and humorous, reflecting Mr. Hua Junwu's wisdom and understanding.
Exhibition time: December 15, 2023 - May 31, 2024
Exhibition Venue: Wuxi Dangkou Ancient Town Culture and Art Center.
Yangtze Evening News/Purple Cow News reporter Ding Bo
Proofreading by Sheng Yuanyuan