The Central Academy of Fine Arts (abbr. CAFA) has always paid much attention to the creations of the students, which is the direct presentation of the teaching achievement of the academy, creating a series of important exhibition brands which is represented by “The Start of a Long Journey”, while the “Graduation Season” was successfully held in 2015, this perfectly combined the display of students’ creation and social interaction. On September 13, 2015, “Originality Creative Art 2015 by the Academics – Exhibition of the Art Students” opened at CAFA Art Museum, and it is a new exhibition directly concerning students’ creation, directly showcasing the current situation in teaching. The exhibition was initiated by the School of Plastic Arts, CAFA, guided by the Art Education Committee at the China Artists Association, Zegu Art Fund, Beijing Song Ya Feng Culture Media Limited Liability Company, and supported by the National Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Cultural Development Company, the four academies including CAFA, China Academy of Art, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University participated in it and presented a total of 183 sets of works of the students, among which 41 sets of winning works were selected by the annual jury.

Party Secretary of CAFA Gao Hong, President of CAFA Fan Di’an, Deputy Party Secretary of CAFA Wang Shaojun, Vice President of CAFA Su Xinping, Ma Lu, Dean of School of Plastic Arts, CAFA, Jing Shijian, Deputy Dean of the School of Fine Arts at China Academy of Art, Zhang Jie, Vice President of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Ma Sai, Vice President of Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University attended the opening ceremony and awarded the winner the trophy and certificate. Wang Xiaolin, Assistant to the President of CAFA, Dean of CAFA Office of Academic Affairs hosted the opening ceremony and award ceremony.

Vice President of CAFA Su Xinping addressed the opening ceremony and said, the exhibition compensates for the loss of a display platform for the students, and the exhibition should focus on autonomous, conscious and spontaneous thought and practice of the students except for normative teaching and classes, through the exhibition they encourage students independent thinking, confident exploration because creativity didn’t only come from the classroom, but more from the independent exploration in everyday life. For the appraisal of winning, Su Xinping said it depended on three aspects including difficulty, uniqueness and completion. Ma Lu, Dean of School of Plastic Arts, CAFA introduced the origin of the exhibition project, he thanked the sponsors’ strong support, which allowed the students to see the creative status of the students from other academies, it was an excellent exchange and learning opportunity, he also hoped that more academies would be involved, so it could become a rotating exhibition. Zhang Jie, Vice President of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute thought highly of the exhibition, through the exhibition people could reflect on the true quality, value and attributes of the academies, Zhang Jie believed that academies should adhere to the inherited value and academic value and it also had the social attribute, to be an open system.

Deputy Party Secretary of CAFA Wang Shaojun announced the winners of the exhibition (there is no winner of the annual “Gold Prize of Plastic Arts”):

Silver Prize of Plastic Arts: Tan Yingjie, Ma Ying, Wang Ye

Artistic Inheritance Prize: Wang Hongzhou, Liu Yaoyuan, Ma Wenjia

Artistic Innovation Prize: Yang Liqian, Li Lukai, Zhang Chao

Sponsored Special Award: Li Kun, Ran Kai, Ding Hong, Gao Ke

Nomination Prize: Zhou Da, Wu Jiantang, Bian Xiaomeng, Liu Shaodong, Hou Zhengyang, Xu Jingwen, Wang Zhiyan, Liu Chang, Li Haowen, Shi Yuanxin, Fang Jiongming, Jiang Xinyu, Wang Lulu, Hu Weiqi, Wang Dan, Chen Yanbai, Wang Wang, Yang Jiayong, Zhao Jiancheng, Shi Hongjie, Liu Jianming, Liao Wenchao, Yang Yong, Nie Hefu, Lian Peiwei, Lin Xi, Diao Junxiang, Yang Yang

The exhibition showcases 183 sets of work, to some extent, it reflects the shaping of the basis and artistic accomplishment of the students from the academies, showcasing the spiritual pursuit and artistic thinking of the generation of young artists. It is a creation besides the graduation creation, so the work combines individual independent thinking with academic tradition, using a unique perspective and unique artistic performance to showcase the exploring spirit and vitality of youth. The exhibition is a guidance and enlightenment for the academies to help the students walk out from the ivory tower. At the same time, it builds a sharing platform between the academies, which has a profound influence and important value to promote an exchange and research opportunity between academics and teaching.

In the afternoon, hosted by Prof. Liu Xiaodong, the seminar of the exhibition was held in the lecture hall of CAFA Library, around the exhibition theme of “reality and dream”, there was a discussion on the topics of “What is the true color of the academy?”, “Is literature mainstream?”, “The edge and center of the academies”, “Creative boundary of different majors”, and “The relationship between graduation creation and non-graduation creation”, to build a more open classroom for the students to study.

The secondary exhibition for “Original Creative Art by the Academics” – “Teaching Cases Exhibition” was synchronously unfolded at the Rotating Stair Exhibition Hall of Building 5 and underground exhibition hall, continuing to October 9.

Text and photo by Zhang Wenzhi/CAFA ART INFO

Translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO