On December 11, 2015, jointly hosted by the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs at CAFA, the Postgraduate Division and Tainan National University of the Arts, “Development of Regional Culture and Life Creation” doctoral students exchange and creative project thematic exhibition opened at the teaching exhibition hall of Building 7, CAFA, and the exchange activity and exhibition are themed on “Reshaping the Tradition”, to feature the thematic creations by 12 doctoral students from the two schools, revealing that the artistic creations from Taiwan and mainland pay close attention to “tradition” and reshaping the contemporary. Vice President of CAFA Su Xinping, Director of Postgraduate Division Chen Qi, Director of Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges Xu Jia, Director of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs at CAFA Yu Yue, and Head of the College of Visual Art at Tainan National University of the Arts Xue Baoxia attended the opening ceremony.

“Development of Regional Culture and Life Creation” is an artistic exchange program unfolded by CAFA, making full use of favorable conditions, on the basis of the PRC’s guidelines for Taiwan that is “sinking downward, and moving southward”, it is a high-level project, with a long duration and numerous participants, at the same time it focuses on the creation of art, culture, way of future life and so on, and has the academic and constructive quality. At the same time, through the exchanges between the doctoral students participating in the activity, it further deepens the association with the future leading figures of Taiwan art circles, to further lay a foundation to expand the communication with Taiwan’s art. Since 2010, the program has successfully held six times, actively promoting the high-level academic exchanges between the two schools, so that the cross-strait region can strengthen the cognition and understanding of present cultural situation each other. As Vice President Su Xinping said, CAFA and Tainan National University of the Arts had a different teaching system and background, respectively processing their advantages, for example, CAFA had an advantage in terms of inheriting tradition, while it is a defect in terms of on-site language expression, through the high-level academic exchanges between doctoral students, so it is very necessary to understand each other, learn from others’ strong points to offset one’s weakness, to perfect the teaching mode of the academy. Chen Qi also noticed that the students from two schools both had the special advantages in the interpretation, observation and expressive way on the same theme, while the holding of the program aimed at finding the difference, colliding and inspiring each other, to enhance the students’ keen artistic sense for the society in the process.

The activity is themed on “Reshaping the Tradition”, which is an old topic and remains to be a popular topic for a long time, in the process of hundred years of Chinese modern transformation, “Detraditionalization” and “Westernization" has been occupying the solo speaking right, “Nihilism” once even spread the whole world of literary and arts. But “tradition” is inherited on the basis of the carriers such as classic document, academic research, items of work and daily life, deeply exiting in people’s thinking and perception, in the new cultural context, “the contemporary transformation of traditional culture” has become a focus at present, so Reshaping the Tradition echoes this hot topic. Head of the College of Visual Art at Tainan National University of the Arts Xue Baoxia said at the opening ceremony, because customs, habits, cultural awareness, traditional and modern value were indivisibly connected, it was a cultural consciousness for a doctoral student to through the way of creation to concern the traditional reshaping in addition to the theoretical thinking.

“Reshaping the Tradition” emphasizes the “quality”. No matter how technology, material, idea and method change, they are only the ways and tools to realize works. “Quality” collectively embodies the thinking awareness of an artist, the degree of technical familiarity, the subtlety of material transformation, the perspective to cutting in the reality, the architecture supporting the work, pertinency of the proposed problem. This project and exhibition use the works as the carrier, to reveal the reality of the “quality”.

The exhibition continued to December 15.

Text and photo by Zhang Wenzhi, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO

Doctors from Tainan National University of the Arts: Lin Qingxuan, Xiao Yaxin, Yuan Huili, Chen Weifeng, Shen Yurong, Chen Yizhang

Doctors from CAFA: Liu Shangying, An Ran, Li Zhan, Cao Fangjv, Kou Jianghui, Zhang Liang