As an important material that has been widely used in oriental expressions of art since ancient times, “paper” is universally acknowledged to be invented in China. As early as the seventh century when it spread to Japan and thereafter it becomes one of the most important media for recording and performance in East Asia.

At the turn of 19th—20th century when Eastern and Western cultures conflicted and united, with the oriental culture via paper as its medium, it greatly influenced Western Impressionists, though oil paintings using canvas as its media also affected the artistic tradition of paper in the modernized process of Japan and China. Along with the economic globalization of the 21st century, corrupt practices of Western culture gradually reveal themselves. Various countries in East Asia once adapted western things for their own use especially China and Japan who pay more attention to the subjectivity of their own culture. With “paper” to manifest the spirit of the East, they can be said to have established their own unique cultural values.

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Courtesy of the artists and CAFA Art Museum

Serving the purpose of promotion in the independence and research of Asian contemporary art, this exhibition belongs to the operational research project jointly constructed by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. The first round of Not Just Paper takes the promotion of international exchanges including art teaching as its aim and opens at the galleries of CAFA Art Museum on January 13th, 2012. With such a historical and cultural background, this exhibition brings a new perspective and concept to “paper” which is not only restricted to artistic expressions but also as being pretty practical. Thus it is entitles as “Not Just Paper” for they are paper but not just paper.

“Not Just Paper” means they are not just paper.

“Not Just Paper” involves a lot of things with paper.

“Not Just Paper” indicates many irrelevances of paper.

“Not Just Paper” aims to explore more possibilities of paper for art.

“Not Just Paper” intends to search after more possibilities of art for paper.

“Not Just Paper” contains the meaning of “nihility” as well as the meaning of “prosperity”.

About the exhibition

Title: Not Just Paper?The First Round Sino-Japanese Paper Art Exhibition

Dates: January 13th –February 19th, 2012/1/12

Venue: Galleries on the 1st and 2nd Floors of CAFA Art Museum

Opening: 10:00 pm, January 13th, 2012

Organizers: the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music

Sponsor: School of Plastic Arts, the Central Academy of Fine Arts

Director: Prof. Xie Dongming, Vice Master of School of Plastic Arts, CAFA and Dean of Department of Oil Painting

Executive Committee: Central Academy of Fine Arts

Executive Chairman: Su Xinping

Executive Commissioners (alphabet sequence):

Cao Li, Liu Xiaodong, Lv Pinchang, Lv Shengzhong, Sui Jianguo, Wang Huangsheng, Yuding and Xie Dongming.

Curator:

Yu Ding, Vice President of the School of Humanities, CAFA

Noguchi Reiichi, Lecture of Department of Oil Painting, School of Fine Arts, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and Headman of Artistic Skills at Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo.