February 22, 2023, the Third “New Momentum”: The Reporting Exhibition by Newly Recruited Teachers and the Invitational Exhibition by Young Teachers commenced at CAFA Art Museum. It was hosted by the Department of Faculty Members which belongs to the CAFA Party Committee (Personnel Office) and the CAFA Development Center of Teachers. “New Momentum” series which is in its third year, intends to display the creative and researching achievements by newly recruited teachers and young teachers based in CAFA along with their academic ability and creations to reflect and inspire their peers in this exhibition.

Exhibition View

Over ten representatives of outstanding young teachers who have completed their first employment session were invited to participate in the Invitational Exhibition. They either participated in significant exhibitions held in China and other countries, or they were selected for the National Talent Project, or they have made remarkable achievements in teaching and academic exploration. Among all the 31 young teachers, 18 of them were newly recruited and 13 are now on the job. The exhibition covers painting, sculpture, design, video, installation, thesis and other media, which comprehensively showcase their growth and achievements in art education, academic research and creative practice. The juxtaposition of the artworks by newly recruited teachers and young teachers is not just to encourage the echo and dialogue between each part, it also sets an example for the newly recruited teachers and inspires them, so that the strength and demeanour of these young teachers can be activated.

Exhibition View

“Success can be achieved only by capable people,” General Secretary Xi has emphasized the importance of the strategic capable people in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Taking this as its aim, the Central Academy of Fine Arts (abbr. CAFA) is committed to cultivating artistic talent who can assume the responsibility of a major national rejuvenation, who can portray the striving epoch with their excellent artworks, they serve the national strategy with art and design, provide a better service to people’s lives with their wonderful innovations, and further make new contributions to build an education power. CAFA introduces a group of young talented teachers every year; it cultivates them and persists in the continuous development of talent cultivation, making them develop innovative and creative vitality, and hopefully they will become the “New Momentum” in the “new centennial development” of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. On the morning of the opening ceremony for the exhibition, the “Party Secretary Lecture Hall and Mobilization”, was officially held and chaired by Gao Hong, Secretary of the Party Committee at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

View of the “Party Secretary Lecture Hall and Mobilization” on February 22, 2023

The Group Photo after the “Party Secretary Lecture Hall and Mobilization” on February 22, 2023

Honored guests who attended the opening ceremony of “New Momentum” included Gao Hong, Secretary of the Party Committee at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, President Fan Di’an, Yang Wenhai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Deputy President Xu Yang, Deputy President Lin Mao, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee Wang Xiaolin , Deputy President Lu Pinjing, Deputy President Qiu Zhijie, President Assistant Pan Chenghui, and the participating young teachers, the leaders of the departments and so on. The opening ceremony was chaired by Fu Yijing, Head of the Department of Faculty Members which belongs to the CAFA Party Committee (Personnel Office) and the CAFA Development Center of Teachers.

View of the Opening Ceremony

Party Secretary Gao Hong delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.

On behalf of the Party Committee at Central Academy of Fine Arts, Party Secretary Gao Hong extended a warm welcome to the exhibition and the new teachers of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. “New Momentum”: The Reporting Exhibition by Newly Recruited Teachers and the Invitational Exhibition by Young Teachers had been held for three consecutive years and it is significant for the Central Academy of Fine Arts. On the one hand, the exhibition brings new motive power to the campus; on the other hand it stimulates the growth of young teachers, promotes the inheritance of the fine tradition of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and further adds motivation to the new era and new journey based on the glory created by predecessors. One generation has the responsibility of a generation. The Central Academy of Fine Arts leads the development of Chinese art and education, and its hope is put on the shoulders of young teachers. Party Secretary Gao Hong encourages young teachers to aim at self-positioning as soon as possible along with new technical conditions, and to find new impetus in professionalism, teaching, artistic creation while serving society. He also hoped that these young teachers will keep looking for new impetus in the process of entering the new era with their youthful strength, moreover they can take over the relay sticks as well as the mission that is passed down by the older generation of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

Fan Di’an, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony.

President Fan Di’an first of all emphasized the importance of the professionalism of the teachers’ positions to the formation of a strong academic atmosphere at CAFA. The Central Academy of Fine Arts has gone through the long history of 105 years in 2023, and generations of education pioneers deserve our respect and retrospect. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has been held, and the country has embarked on a new journey in the new era. Young teachers are the hope for the development of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and National Higher Education at the beginning of the first decade of the new centennial. He hoped that the organizational training and “New Momentum” exhibition can contribute to the formation of a good learning ecological and academic atmosphere. With the new young faces to join the large family of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, how a new generation of teachers form a highly ideological consensus with the large collectives and brigades is an important challenge. It is also hoped that young teachers know our time in addition to their individual achievements as they are both opportunities for the epoch and the topics proposed by the epoch. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly requested teachers in the field of higher education in his speech: First of all, they should fundamentally understand the responsibility of teachers and they can contribute to the development of Chinese society. Secondly, the new generation of teachers should continue to understand and develop their majors, and establish a deeper relationship between the responsibility of individual development and a general education.

Huang Shan, a newly recruited teacher from the Department of Sculpture, spoke at the opening ceremony.

Huang Shan, a newly recruited teacher from the Department of Sculpture, expressed his grateful feelings to the Central Academy of Fine Arts for it has provided the young teachers with the generous academic atmosphere and communication platform. He felt deeply that the “New Momentum” exhibition has become an important academic brand in the Central Academy of Fine Arts and it provides an excellent platform for newly recruited teachers to show their achievements. He will put this love into his career of academic creations while cultivating and educating students, firmly create and work hard to become a new driving force for the Central Academy of Fine Arts with an infinite creativity.

Geng Shuo, a representative of the young teachers and Associate Professor of the School of Humanities, spoke at the opening ceremony.

Geng Shuo, a representative of the young teachers and Associate Professor of the School of Humanities, started his speech from recalling his experience of working at the Central Academy of Fine Arts for 10 years. He was much more affectionate towards the special diversity and tolerance atmosphere of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. From studying archaeological origins from Peking University, to studying the art history in the Central Academy of Fine Arts, he can feel the interaction between disciplines and the overall trend of trans-disciplinary research. The combination of the needs of culture and art has also achieved a good response in large-scale national cultural engineering activities. It also allowed him as a new generation of teachers to develop and then feed a good cycle in the teaching at the classrooms. He looked forward to strengthening exchanges and cooperation with colleagues in the future, forming an academic community at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and achieving common growth.

Being a representative of the newly recruited teachers, Li Beike from the School of Design, spoke at the opening ceremony.

Being a representative of the newly recruited teachers, Li Beike from the School of Design also works as a curatorial and executive member of the “New Momentum.” In her speech, she shared the process and feelings of her assistance to the exhibition. She said that the pandemic has caused the sharp decline in offline exhibitions in recent years, and she re-found the special feeling brought by the physical space for this exhibition. Li Beike is currently teaching in the Direction of the Design Curatorial Space and Narrative. She also introduced the research direction “Learning from Plants”, initiated by the major since 2022. Through trans-disciplinary and multi-field perspectives, the relations between the characteristics of plants and people and intelligence are learned. She also expected that the students who major in Curatorial Theories can accumulate more practical experience in the future.

The opening ceremony was chaired by Fu Yijing, Head of the Department of Faculty Members which belongs to the CAFA Party Committee (Personnel Office) and the CAFA Development Center of Teachers.

The Group Photo at the Opening Ceremony

Exhibition View

The sunshine in spring is warm, while the grass and trees are sprouting. A new strength of the Central Academy of Fine Arts is gathered in the exhibition hall. In the future, they will definitely germinate a new vitality. We are looking forward to the new generation of young teachers of the Central Academy of Fine Arts actively showing their “optimistic” attitude, their courage to show their strength, they will actively bloom showing “promising” achievement, and we trust they will harvest their achievements as they belong to the faculty of the Central Academy of Fine Arts!

Text by Mengxi, trans.and ed. by Sue/CAFA ART INFO

Image Courtesy Song Manqing

Courtesy of the Department of Faculty Members which belongs to the CAFA Party Committee (Personnel Office) and the CAFA Development Center of Teachers.