Traditional Chinese folk art has a long history. It has borne witness to the survival and development of the Chinese nation on this land for thousands of years, and serves as a spiritual connection between tradition and contemporary times. How to inherit, protect and promote traditional Chinese folk art, and how to improve people’s daily lives and provide strong impetus for building a prosperous and thriving socialist culture through the beauty of folk art, are major issues of our times.
The exhibition Among the People: Folk Art Exhibition of Pan Lusheng aims to demonstrate the rich nourishment that traditional Chinese folk art provides for the creation of contemporary art, and calls for the protection, inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese folk art.
Taking on a variety of forms, folk art is related to almost every aspect of people’s daily lives. This exhibition mainly displays the folk art collection and research as well as creations of Professor Pan Lusheng, vice president of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association, showcasing more than 500 works of traditional folk art and contemporary art. The exhibition consists of five sections: “Small Steps Leading to Greater Things”, “Dots and Lines”, “Expansion, Innovation and Inclusion”, “Light and Colors” and “Passing on Traditional Artisanship and Ingenuity”. It fully displays collections and research of folk art as well as the transformation and development of folk art in contemporary art creation. It also vividly reflects the pursuits of contemporary folk art workers, maintaining close ties with the people and passing on traditional artisanship and ingenuity.
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the historical foundation, traditional roots and national characteristics of the Chinese civilization. He highlights that, as an invaluable asset of the Chinese nation, folk arts are vital to sustaining a historical legacy and building a socialist country with great cultural strength. Xi highlights the importance of developing art with national characteristics, inheriting and carrying forward the traditions of national and folk literature and art, creating more styles, schools and forms, and establishing a distinctive Chinese style in the realm of world literature and art.
This exhibition advocates “going to the people” by displaying and studying works of folk art. It is not only an appeal for protecting and inheriting traditional folk crafts, but also an understanding that future development of the Chinese civilization and socialist culture must rely on the people. We sincerely hope that this exhibition can encourage visitors to approach, understand and attach importance to folk art, raise awareness among the people of the contemporary value of traditional folk art, facilitate rural revitalization and cultural advancement, and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture.
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