Papercut retrospective

With an ordinary pair of scissors and a single sheet of paper in hand, you are ready to make art. Simple, isn't it?

Chines papercutting is an art of simplicity, but it is not as easy as it sounds.

Visitors to a recent retrospective exhibition on Chinese papercuts in Beijing might have found a renewed understanding of this "simple art."

The exhibition entitled "Centennial Retrospective Exhibition of Chinese Papercuts," which closed over the weekend at the China National Art Museum, was sponsored by the China Society of Folk Papercuts (CSFP), a national group with more than 1,000 accomplished artists and researchers in the field as its members.

Distinctive for an interesting blend of the old and the new, the exhibit was the epitome of the transformation the art form has made during the past 50 years, especially in two decades since the country launched reform and opening up.

"I went to the show not expecting much, just to take a break from work, studying Chinese and spending too much time on the Internet, but I encountered an artistic experience I had not expected," said Charles Dukes, an English language polisher from Texas, the United Sates.

"One sees in this show the 'exhaustion' of the old, that is, the skilled replication of an ancient form, using ancient symbolism, that amounts to little more than decoration in the modern context. But you also see how this form has been adapted, and how new thinkers are adapting the old form to express new aspirations," Dukes said.

Zhang Shuxian, one of the exhibition organizers, echoed Dukes' impression. A leading researcher of Chinese papercuts, Zhang now serves as CSFP's vice-president.

According to Zhang, the typical folk art form of papercuts, which has enjoyed more than 1,500 years of popularity in China, "has taken on a new look" since the latter half of the 20th century together with the social and economic change in the country and the introduction of Western culture.

"This exhibition is an exact display of the rapid changes and Chinese artists' efforts to take the traditional art in new directions," said Zhang.

Artistic works by two women in the exhibit, which included more than 400 pieces of artwork selected from across China, became the centre of a heated discussion for the "generation gap" in their artistic concepts and techniques.

Gao Fenglian, 64, is a well-known farmer papercut artist from a village in Yanchuan of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Yao Hongxia, in her 30s, is an emerging professional artist working at the Baotou Art Research Academy in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in North China.

Gao's work "Folkways of Northern Shaanxi" stood out for her skillfulness following styles and patterns of traditional folk papercuts. The works are vividly depict daily activities such as carrying water, farming and cooking in rural areas of northwestern China. But, like thousands of illiterate Chinese rural women of her age who take papercutting as a hobby in, Gao's creation was simply from an artistic instinct along with an in-born love of life and nature.

Yao, on the contrary, is a well-trained modern artist, with influences of art theories. Her work "The Charm of the Gobi Desert," which she tore with fingers out of a sheet of blue paper, is applauded for its powerful and exaggerated images - an eagle in the sky, a yurt on the ground and a horse galloping in front - and the concise composition that creates an effect of tension.

"Both works of art are enjoyable for me since they represent two substantial aspects, or two different periods, of the same culture," said Feng Zhen, an artist and theorist and a previous professor at the Folk Art Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. She now serves as the president of CSFP.

According to Feng, in the past, papercuts were usually made by amateur hobbyists, mostly rural women in their spare time after labouring farm work, just as decorations to their homes or talismans to ward off bad luck. Nowadays, papercutting is increasingly taken as an independent applied art.

The change in the functions of Chinese papercuts as well as the rapid urbanization of China have also led to the change in the role of papercut makers, with the appearance of more and more professional papercut artists who mainly live in cities, many of them are men.

"This professional group of papercut artists have greatly contributed to the transformation of Chinese folk papercuts in a new age, in the techniques, contents and themes of the works of art," Zhang said.

"Animals," a recent work by Lin Ximing from Shanghai, and "Little Girl," a work by Shaanxi woman artist Bai Xiu'e, were eye-catching for adding cheerful new techniques to the traditional art.

"New Problems Challenging Zhong Kui the Ghost Tamer," by Zhou Mingxin from East China's Zhejiang Province, leads viewers to think about new possibilities in the contents and themes of this art. In the form of a cartoon picture, the work satirizes the corruption of some officials in current China who could hardly resist the allure of money and beauty.
Qiao Xiaoguang, an art professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, represents the new trend of well-educated Chinese papercut artists who seek inspiration from both Chinese traditions and Western modern art. His recent work "Auspicious Red Goats" is a successful example of this intention.

Despite the rapid changes and active explorations in the art of Chinese papercuts, the inferior education level of a large number of papercuts artisans and their difficult economic situation, especially those living in poverty-stricken rural areas, are obstacles for the further development of this art form, according to Zhang.

"The problems, in a way, lead to conceptual narrowness or force some artisans to give up their hobby. It is necessary to improve the artistic awareness of the artisans and develop a market economy promoting the prosperity of the art of Chinese papercuts," Zhang said.

Date: 02/29/2000
Author: YANG YINGSHI, China Daily staff
Copyright? by China Daily

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