On August 31, 2017, “The Sea of Hope · Kang Jianfei Independent Art Project” officially opened at the Youth Art Community (YAC) in Tianjin, and the opening also marked the first anniversary of the building and commencement of operation of the Dongjiang International Art Center and YAC.

The establishment of the Dongjiang International Art Center and YAC concerns and supports by all sectors of society. The honored guests from the Tianjin Municipal Administration of Culture, Broadcasting & Television, Tianjin Municipal Commission of Commerce, Publicity Department of CPC of Tianjin Binhai New Area, the Bureau of Culture, Broadcasting & Television of Tianjin Binhai New Area, Tianjin Port Group, the Committee of Dongjiang Bonded Port Area, Dongjiang Investment Holding Company, Tianjin Foreign Trade Company, Tianjin Songjiang Co.,Ltd., as well as China National Academy of Painting, CAFA, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Tianjin Binhai Academy of Painting, China Guanlan Original Printmaking Base, artists, people from all walks of life and media attended the opening activity.

“The Sea of Hope” independent art project was curated by the artist Kang Jianfei, who created and finished the content of the work, which were cut into 200 pieces, and then sent to the people who live and work in the Dongjiang and Binhai New Area, working together to finish the large-scale work of print entitled “The Sea of Hope”.

The 200 participants include young children, university graduates who have just arrived in Dongjiang, the builders who have worked in Dongjiang for many years, as well as a captain from the Italian cruise ship, some of them are artists, media, entrepreneurs, civil servants, trademen, housewives, corporate staff ... They come from all walks of life, of different ages and backgrounds, they gathered because of the print, to create together the work of print entitled “The Sea of Hope” by hands, with the common language of art, while the sea of hope of Dongjiang is also jointly drawn from the hands of these people.

Project curator Kang Jianfei said that: I hope the audience both sees the work of woodcut itself, and that they can see the links triggered by the work itself, thus to think of what is art, thinking of the relationship between the art and the self! Rather than the end of the art action, thus “work” becomes a starting point.

The YAC is a sharing community platform designed to serve the young art community, aiming to build the first sharing community in northern China that covers artists’ creativity, residency, exhibitions and exchange. On the one hand, YAC offers the artists, designers and other young art creators with residency, creation and communication, to solve the problems of a creative space, tools, professional technicians and the communication faced by the young art crowds; on the other hand, it serves society, offering the public the opportunity to fulfill the spiritual needs of cultural and artistic appreciation and exchange, disseminating the art, forming a broader dialogue between the art and the public, allowing people to have a better life.

YAC is operated on the basis of the first phase project of the Dongjiang International Art Center, covering an area of more than 4,000 square meters, over three floors: on the ground floor there are professional exhibition spaces, art stores and an exploration area; on the second floor there is an engraving workshop, with world-class professional equipment; on floor three there are artists’ studios, accepting domestic and foreign artists for a residency and creative space, meanwhile there are a spacious public salon spaces and the outdoor viewing platform.

On the opening day, “The First Binhai International Print Creative Camp” launched an opening ceremony. The camp is jointly hosted by the Publicity Department of CPC of Tianjin Binhai New Area, the Bureau of Culture, Broadcasting & Television of Tianjin Binhai New Area and the Committee of Dongjiang Bonded Port Area, and organized by the YAC. The camp was launched in August 2017 and extended to December 2017, inviting about 15 Chinese and foreign print artists to enter the camp for a residency and creative space in stages.

The creative camp series of activities include the opening ceremony, getting sketches and resident creations, exhibitions of creative results and domestic itinerant exhibitions, the salon of Chinese and foreign artists that share their works, the forum of printmaking art circles, a public open day, printmaking with public education experience activities, thematic lectures, etc., to build an academic coastal international art exchange project brand with an high social influence and public participation which will become a new cultural and artistic card of Binhai, Tianjin.

Text and photo courtesy of the organizer

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