On April 27, 2017, jointly hosted by the Central Academy of Fine Arts and China Academy of Art, “Spirit of the Academy ? Pin Zhi – Excellent Works Exhibition for the Graduates of the Eight Academies of Fine Arts” opened at the famous Chinese city Yiwu. The exhibition is planned by the Graduate School, CAFA, aimed at collectively presenting the academic exchange exhibition of the high-end art talent from higher art schools in China. Prof. Su Xinping, Vice President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, serves as the art director, and Prof. Chen Qi, Executive Deputy Director of the Graduate School, CAFA and Prof. Mao Jianbo, Director of the Graduation Division of the China Academy of Art is chief of planning, Prof. Yin Shuangxi, Director of CAFA Editorial Office serves as the curator, and Ge Yujun, Director of the Department of Teaching of the Graduation School, CAFA serves as the executive curator.

“Spirit of the Academy ? Pin Zhi – Excellent Works Exhibition for the Graduates of the Eight Academies of Fine Arts” is a combination of academic research and art creation, it has invited more than 200 master candidates and PhD candidates from the most important 8 academies of art in China to showcase the 300 pieces recently created by them, and it is the top largest display of the creations of the postgraduates of visual arts in China. This exhibition is also an important part of the 12th Yiwu Cultural Products Fair, which also facilitates the exchange of education and public information.

Zhang Xiaoling, Vice President of China National Academy of Painting, Xu Fen, Vice President of Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Prof. Chen Qi, Executive Deputy Director of the Graduate School, CAFA and the chief of planning, Prof. Yin Shuangxi, Director of CAFA Editorial Office and the curator of the exhibition, Prof. Mao Jianbo, Director of the Graduation Division of the China Academy of Art and the chief of planning, Luo Gen, Deputy Director of Yiwu Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, Huang Houming, Dean of the College of Fine Arts at Zhejiang University, Shao Yiyang, Deputy Dean of the School of Humanities, CAFA and other honored guested attended the opening ceremony. Ge Yujun, Director of the Department of Teaching of the Graduation School,CAFA hosted the opening ceremony.

Zhang Xiaoling, Vice President of China National Academy of Painting said that the successful holding of the exhibition presented the correct road and direction of Chinese art education, the Chinese art community was dedicated to the discussion on the unique qualities of Chinese art education, while the creative appearance of the young generation participating in this exhibition perfectly answered the question. Curator Yin Shuangxi focused on the selection of works, and he evaluated the exhibition accurately touching the pulse of higher art education in China. Chen Qi, Executive Deputy Director of the Graduate School, CAFA stressed the presentation and discussion on the teaching traditions, ideas and problems for each academy, and also stressed that art education should go through social testing and interact extensively with the public, it has no doubt that this exhibition can offer education many thoughts and enhance it. Mao Jianbo, Director of the Graduation Division of the China Academy of Art, as one of the initiators for the exhibition, hoped it perfectly grafted with Yiwu Cultural Products Fair, and built a platform for the communication between culture and the economy.

The exhibition takes “Pin Zhi/ Quality” as a key word, hoping to further showcase that the higher art institutions in China understand and respect the artistic quality and artistic values of the inclusiveness, openness, contemporary, as well as originality. The works of the exhibition have rich artistic forms, reflecting the young students’ understanding and pursuit of different artistic ideas and creative methods. The exhibited works generally express the sensitivity of the young people for contemporary social changes, while the art language is no longer confined to the traditional model, but actively innovating on the basis of inheriting the tradition, showcasing the reform results and great progress in terms of art education and innovative thinking of the art institutions in recent years, and it also presents the changes of educational thinking and design of the 8 major academies, to increasingly highlight the innovative artistic thinking, encouraging the students to boldly imagine, bravely innovate while promoting originality but opposing stereotypes and blindly pursuing fashion. It is through the deep thinking of contemporary society, with a high visual expressive quality in the artistic language, that there is inspiration to re-understand the relationships between art and nature, art and society.

In addition, the exhibited works also reflect the young artists close concern for the living environment and reflects the young generation yearning for a happy and harmonious material and spiritual home. The works are in a variety of forms such as symbol, metaphor and association, and express the young artists are involved in the cultural building of Chinese society, through a diverse language to create the modern and visual connotation of images. Their works start from the individual various circumstances in their current life and social consumption phenomena, to showcase the review and critique on the current consumer society from different angles, to expand our visual experience and psychological experience, so that the diversified material expressions have an unique humanistic meaning.

This exhibition is a platform for the postgraduates of fine arts in China to have an exchange and learn and it is also a platform for the managers of postgraduate education and mentors in China to have an exchange of experience. On the opening day of the exhibition, the exhibition symposium was held concurrently. The leaders, supervisors and educational experts of the postgraduate education from the 8 academies of fine arts gathered to have an in-depth discussion on the “Orientation and Reflection of Art Education in Contemporary Chinese Academies”, “The Results, Characteristics, and the Problems Faced by the High Art Education in China”, “How Do Academies Finish the Convergence between School and Society for Young Artists at the Level of the State Encouragement Mechanism”, as well as the specific issues of the teaching, including the requirements and methods of the writing for professional and theoretical doctoral theses, whether a conflict exists between professional skills and theory, the differences and interrelationships of the teaching between professional art education and the art education of comprehensive universities, how the postgraduates deal with the relationship between the learning & creation and the market.

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

Photo by the organizer

About the Exhibition?? ??

Title: Spirit of Academy ? Pin Zhi - Excellent Works Exhibition for the Graduates of the Eight Academies of Fine Arts

Duration: April 27, 2017 - April 30, 2017

Venue: B2, Yiwu International Expo Center

Artistic Director: Su Xinping

Chief Planning: Chen Qi, Mao Jianbo

Curator: Yin Shuangxi

Executive Curator: Ge Yujun

Exhibition Implementations: Hu Yiqi, Cao Na, Fu Wei

Hosts: The Central Academy of Fine Arts (abbr. CAFA) and China Academy of Art

Participating Schools: The Central Academy of Fine Arts (abbr. CAFA), China Academy of Art, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, Hubei Institute of Fine Arts

Organizer: China (Yiwu) Cultural Products Fair Organizing Committee

Executive: Beijing Zhenghecheng Culture Development Co., Ltd.