This is the first time that the Academy of Fine Arts has supported the old Soviet area with artworks on a large scale, and this new cooperation model has great practical value and far-reaching significance.
*The Academy of Fine Arts will use this cooperation model as a blueprint to promote it to the whole country, give full play to the role of the 'national team' of aesthetic education, and serve the national strategic needs with better art achievements. ”
Text |"Lookout" Newsweek reporters Shi Xiangzhou, Tang Min, Liu Juan.
I've watched the play, I've watched the play!”
In the month of 1935, in a mountain col in Jingtang Village, Yudu County, Jiangxi Province, drum music was noisy. The villagers braved the rain and rushed to the brightly lit stage.
This was a "farewell performance" that stimulated the fighting spirit of the military and people in the Soviet area and covered the transfer of the main force of the Red Army, and it was also the last theatrical performance organized by Comrade Qu Qiubai during his lifetime.
The years go by. Today, more than 80 years later, the temporary stage made of wood and thatch during the show is gone, and a reconstructed stage stands among the grass on the original site, and most of the people who once lived on and off the stage have gone into history.
Starting from 2021, the **Academy of Fine Arts "joined hands" with the **Soviet District of southern Jiangxi, and it took more than 2 years to restore this moment for the first time with oil painting.
Recorded through the restoration of paintings, there are also 35 historical moments such as "** Writing Investigation Report on Searching for Wu" and "* Anyuan Tianxin Rectification".
In 2021, **Academy of Fine Arts launched the project of "**Academy of Fine Arts Supporting the Creation of Red Theme in Southern Jiangxi**Soviet District", organizing and mobilizing more than 30 young and middle-aged backbone teachers of CAFA, combined with the local creative forces of Ganzhou and the research strength of party history, through collection and research, 35 red-themed creations were formed, which will be exhibited at the Art Museum of **Academy of Fine Arts from October 27 to November 4, 2023. Most of the works in the exhibition are presented in the state of creation in progress, and some artists continue to work on site during the exhibition. In addition, a large number of manuscripts, materials, and materials collected from the style are also exhibited, and through the comparative study of the creation cases of different artists, we will find the "multiple emphasis areas" that constitute the contemporary connotation of thematic art creation.
After the exhibition, these works of art will be collected and displayed in Ganzhou Museum, Ganzhou Art Museum, Ruijin ** Revolutionary Base Memorial Hall, Yudu ** Red Army Long March Departure Memorial Hall, ** Xunwu Investigation Memorial Hall and other cultural institutions in southern Ganzhou, the artistic pursuit of contemporary artists is deeply integrated into the spirit of the Soviet area.
*The Academy of Fine Arts supports the "Red Theme Creation in the Southern Jiangxi Soviet District" project to bring together China's top artistic forces, promote red culture, inherit red genes, refine the new spiritual identity of red culture, draw strong ideals and beliefs from the spirit of the Soviet Union, and express the great practice of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
Fan Di'an's oil painting "The Scenery is Good Here" **Courtesy of the Academy of Fine Arts.
Continuing the red context with artistic language.
This is the first large-scale initiative of the Academy of Fine Arts to support the old Soviet District with works of art, and it is a new type of cooperation model, which drives the first art unit and the old area, universities and localities, art academies and museums, artists and party history experts, national famous painters and local painters to "go in both directions", so that the red culture can be innovatively inherited and developed, which has great practical value and far-reaching significance.
Use artistic language to continue the red context, fill the gap in historical records, and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of red culture.
The biggest feature of this batch of subjects is that they are new, and most of them are new subjects that have not been painted before. Fan Di'an, the chief planner of the creation project and chairman of the Chinese Artists Association, said.
*The oil painting "** Writing Investigation Report on the Search for Wu" created by Zhang Yibo, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, is such a work that fills in the gap of historical records.
Mottled wooden doors, dim lanterns, stacked materials, half-dried ink, and solemn gaze ......All kinds of details make the viewer "travel" back to the quiet night when Comrade *** wrote the investigation report, and follow him to think together.
In May 1930, Comrade ** conducted the first urban survey in Xunwu, and not only wrote more than 80,000 words of "Investigation of Xunwu", but also wrote the glorious work "Opposition to Originalism". Due to historical constraints, no records were left at that time**. Fortunately, today, more than 90 years later, the famous artists of the **Academy of Fine Arts have recreated this precious historical moment. * Hou Aiping, director of the Xunwu Investigation Memorial Hall, said.
In addition to the above works, the ** Academy of Fine Arts organized experts to demonstrate the needs and rationality of the five red memorial halls in southern Gansu, and planned a total of 35 pioneering themes. Among them, "** in Xingguo Weijiang Academy", "China Tungsten Mining Company to support the construction of the Soviet Union", "Gathering in the capital" and so on are all themes that have never been created before. These works fully demonstrate the historical power and aesthetic charm of the red classics, which are not only a respect and integrity for history, but also a beneficial exploration of continuing the red blood in the form of contemporary art, and effectively promote the creative transformation and innovative development of red culture.
The empowerment of national artistic power has boosted the upgrading of red culture in old areas.
The Ruijin ** Revolutionary Base Memorial Hall has booked 7 works this time, one of which is a 23-meter-long "seamless connection" painting of 5 old revolutionary sites in Ruijin, which will build the corridor in the museum into a historical time and space tunnel, reaching the hearts of the people.
Yang Lishan, director of the Ruijin ** Revolutionary Base Memorial Hall, said frankly: "In the past, it was difficult to invite art masters at the national level, and I didn't dare to have too many bold designs. ”
Yang Lishan still remembers the excitement when she first received the invitation to cooperate: "It's really timely rain!."We are in the process of renovating the exhibition, and the project cooperation has allowed us to obtain works by artists representing the highest level of art in China. For example, Sun Tao, director of the National Major Theme Creation Research Center of the Academy of Fine Arts, led the creation of "Fujian and Jiangxi are Red", which greatly improved our exhibition level. ”
The introduction of national-level artistic forces has further strengthened the research, interpretation, development and utilization of red culture, stimulated the new vitality of red culture, rejuvenated the value of red culture in the new era, helped the high-quality development of red venues, and realized the upgrading of red culture in old areas.
Improve the supply level of red resources in old areas and ignite a new engine of red cultural tourism.
This is a powerful combination of top artistic forces and top red resources. Gannan is an important station where the leaders and commanders of the revolutionary base areas of Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian provinces are gathered, the cradle of the People's Republic, one of the starting points of the 25,000-mile Long March, and a red land soaked in the blood of countless revolutionary martyrs for the establishment of New China.
As an indispensable and important part of the history of China, the history of the southern Gan Soviet region has left many distinctive and valuable revolutionary cultural relics, revolutionary spirit, red stories, red ballads and other red resources. Making good use of red resources, carrying forward red traditions, and passing on red genes is one of the best ways to cherish the memory of our revolutionary ancestors and carry forward the culture of the red revolution.
This cooperation will display national artworks as a kind of red cultural tourism resources in Gannan Museum, art galleries and other places. Driven by high-quality art, tourists can have a deeper understanding of red culture and form spiritual resonance, so as to effectively improve the supply level of red resources in southern Gansu. Luo Jing, director of the Ganzhou Art Museum, said.
At present, all parts of the country are improving the quality of the red base, and the Academy of Fine Arts will use this cooperation model as a blueprint to promote it to the whole country, give full play to the role of the 'national team' of aesthetic education, and serve the national strategic needs with better art achievements. * Gao Hong, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Academy of Fine Arts, said.
Ye Nan, Sun Tao, Zhang Zhe Oil painting "Ningdu Uprising" *Courtesy of the Academy of Fine Arts.
Feel the greatness of "giving up the small self for the big self".
This is a new era of artists' conferences. **Artists of the Academy of Fine Arts received a red baptism in the cradle of the Republic, which stimulated creative enthusiasm. In the exchange and mutual learning, the artists in the old revolutionary base area have improved their creative attainments.
Wang Hanying's oil painting "Farewell to Ruijin" **Courtesy of the Academy of Fine Arts.
The creator jumped out of the ego and felt the spiritual baptism of red culture.
It is said that the most bitter thing is parting, and by the river, there was parting everywhere. Zhang Boxi, author of the oil painting "A Pair of Hydrangea Straw Shoes" and a Ph.D. student at the ** Academy of Fine Arts, said.
In the days of collecting wind in southern Gansu, she heard too many stories of mothers sending their sons, wives sending their husbands, and sons saying goodbye to their fathers, and saw the straw sandals on the entire wall of the Red Army Long March Departure Memorial Hall in Yudu**, "The theme of my work is a pair of straw sandals, behind the straw sandals, is the sincere emotion between the military and the people and the dedication to ideals and beliefs." ”
In the process of painting, Zhang Boxi seems to travel through time and space, and the "spirit of the revolutionary ancestors in the painting" is in the same frame, reliving the difficulties in history, and feeling the greatness of the ancestors' spirit of "sacrificing the small self for the big self".
For me, this is not only a creation, but also a spiritual baptism. Zhang Boxi said.
In the pursuit of red, the creator found a more ambitious ideological coordinate system.
The process of participating in the creation of national thematic art is a process of constantly adjusting oneself and increasing the difficulty. For the analysis and understanding of the theme, we must jump out of the small circle set by ourselves before, not only face the classics in art history and find the coordinates of possibilities from them, but also find the expression of the theme from a larger category such as an era, or even the entire history and human history. Ma Jiawei, author of the oil painting "Battle of Da Baidi" and associate professor of the Oil Painting Department of ** Academy of Fine Arts, said.
When creating the theme of "Dabaidi Battle", Ma Jiawei continued to sublimate in conception, from the initial direct expression of the fierce war scene to the later image of the poem "Bodhisattva Barbarian, Dabaidi" that recalled the battle of Dabaidi, to indirectly reflect this important symbolic event in the revolutionary history of the Red Army.
The breakthrough and innovation of the creator's expression with contemporary art have realized the linkage between historical facts and artistic environment.
In the creation of historical paintings, it is not only necessary to respect historical facts and tell good stories, but also to rely on the author's imagination and comprehensive ability to realize the deepening and recreation of the theme. * Li Ronglin, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, said.
In the oil painting "** presided over the investigation meeting", he repeatedly thought about and verified the historical facts and determined the layout of the picture: ** comrade held a brush to record personally, accompanied by Comrade Gu Bai, and sat around the table with the people looking for Wu, asking questions and answers, and talking naturally.
In the arrangement of the picture language, the role and symbolism of light are emphasized. "The multi-meaning of light is first of all to adjust the color relationship and rhythm intensity of the picture to avoid the composition being too bland. At the same time, it is more allegorical, symbolizing the hope of the revolution and a bright future. Li Ronglin said.
The creators deepened their understanding of the regularity of theme creation and promoted a deeper level of thinking about the theme creation in the ** Soviet region of southern Jiangxi.
In the oil painting "Breakthrough", Jiang Feng, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts of Gannan Normal University, artistically expressed the scene of breaking through from the Shangping Mountains in March 1935 by leading the troops directly under the **Military Region and the 70th Regiment of the Red 24th Division to break through from the Shangping Mountains in multiple ways.
In this creation, I deeply realized the complexity and difficulty of large-scale thematic creation. In order to ensure the quality of the works, I have carried out repeated scrutiny and practice in the sketches and the production of the works, trying my best to express the dynamic and dense relationship between the characters through color, deeply digging into the state and emotions of the characters at that time and place, and treating history as rationally as possible, and expressing and restoring history more emotionally. Jiang Feng said.
In the process of communicating and learning with peers, creators can achieve both creative concepts and technical improvements.
Since most of the works in this exhibition are presented in the state of creation, peers can intuitively compare creative concepts, which is a rare opportunity to learn Xi. Liu Shiqun, the honorary chairman of the Ganzhou Artists Association, who is nearly eighty years old, insists on completing the high 2 regardless of his age5 meters, 4 meters longThe 5-meter painting "Assemble".
Liu Shiqun's oil painting "Assembly" **Courtesy of the Academy of Fine Arts.
The scene is grand, there are many characters, and the panoramic composition is used to express the five major legions.860,000 Red Army troops were ordered to assemble on the bank of the Du River, focusing on the portrayal of dozens of Red Army soldiers who reunited after the war, and the prospect also arranged for the Red Army who were repairing the ship and lifting the board, one of whom waved his hand into the distance, indicating that the army was about to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river on the Long March.
*In 2023, the Academy of Fine Arts held a total of 4 online and offline sketch observations, first draft reviews, and draft review meetings for this creation, and organized revisions in the exhibition hall on the eve of the public exhibition, and the creation has been 'in progress'. *Zhang Junming, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, wore an apron and insisted on revising his works in the exhibition hall until the eve of the exhibition**Ma Gang, former director of the National Major Theme Creation Research Center of the Academy of Fine Arts, went to southern Gannan several times for investigation and researchChairman Fan Di'an even gave pertinent and precise guidance on the details of the drawing of the house tiles in the Soviet area in the background, and Professor Sun Jingbo on the extent to which the characters' faces were slightly red. Liu Shiqun said, "In the process of cooperating with the famous artists of the ** Academy of Fine Arts, I have greatly improved from the technical to the spiritual level."
Embark on the "New Long March" of red art collaboration
A generation has a long march of a generation.
The new Long March, starting again," Gao Hong said, adding that many old revolutionary base areas like southern Gannan are rich in red resources and have many major historical themes. Facing the future, we art workers need to embark on the "new long march" of red art collaboration, mobilize more top artistic forces to tell the core theme, and promote the cultural and artistic renewal of the old revolutionary base area.
Strengthen the organizational planning and top-level design of major national strategic art creation, further strengthen the organization and leadership of the field of art creation in art colleges and universities, and continuously promote the "organized art creation" serving the old revolutionary base areas.
In addition to the first Academy of Fine Arts, there are many higher art colleges in China, and the next step can be to expand the extension of art assistance and bring together the creative forces of art colleges and universities. Sun Tao, director of the National Major Theme Creation Research Center of the Academy of Fine Arts, said, "We hope that the cooperation between the Academy of Fine Arts and the old area of Gannan is just the beginning, and in the future, there will be more peers to work together to help the old area in an organized way." ”
The red theme is a treasure house, and we must make full use of various forms and means to tap its value and form a good social atmosphere for inheriting the red gene. We are eagerly looking forward to in-depth cooperation with more universities, artists, and art teams in painting, drama and other art fields. This is not only a kind of memory of history, but also the promotion and inheritance of the revolutionary spirit of the Chinese Communists, and it is also a rock force for us to strengthen our national and cultural self-confidence. Ao Xiaoxia, director of the Ganzhou Museum, said.
Explore the establishment of a joint creation platform and an art think tank platform for the "Red Art Serving the National Major Strategy" to enhance the artistic appeal of red resources.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a series of policies and measures have been introduced to support the revitalization and development of the old area. It is suggested that the next step is to take the promotion of this project as an opportunity to support the establishment of a special research institution for the 'Red Art Service National Major Strategy' in the old area, guide the overall construction of red art venues in the old area, and support the development of private red art creation and display institutions in the old area. Liu Shiqun said.
Explore relying on the theme creation departments and teams of various art academies and art institutions, give full play to their respective advantages, establish a joint creation platform and an art think tank platform, and improve the artistic expression level of red resources with the strong support of party committees at all levels and especially the party committees where red resources are located, and enhance the artistic appeal of red resources. Gao Hong said.
We will further strengthen the construction of a high-level artistic creation team that serves the national strategy, and explore a mechanism for cultivating high-level artistic talents in old areas.
Artistic talents are the key to the development of literary and artistic undertakings. **Lin Mao, Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts, believes that a variety of art talent selection and appointment mechanisms can be explored in art colleges and universities, attracting outstanding artists to participate in thematic creation, and guiding young artists to closely integrate their personal artistic pursuits with the development of the times. Li Shenglong, a second-level researcher of the Ganzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Press, Publication and Tourism, said that the old area is still lacking in the ability to cultivate high-level artistic talents, and whether higher art colleges and universities can explore talent training mechanisms such as targeted commission training and enrollment and on-the-job training in the old area, so as to guide more high-level artistic talents to join the old revolutionary area and serve the artistic development of the old area.
Outlook, No. 51, 2023).