What is art education, and how should we conduct it? This mini-course introduces art education in China from the 1950s to the 2000s, featuring the works of Chinese artists from different generations. In these 5 short clips, we will look into the development of tertiary art education in China under the changing socio-political context, and how artist-educators and students continued to innovate under specific limits of different eras.

The content of this series of short videos is derived from Teaching Labs | Pushing the boundaries of art education. 

Content: Anthony Yung, AAA Researcher
Voice over: Lee Yee Ting
Language: English
Total Length:  32 minutes  

Part I: Overview of the People’s Republic of China in the early founding days and in the 1950s  

Length: 8 minutes

• Key Events
  Yan’an Forum on Art and Literature (1942), Founding of the People's Republic of China (1949), Great Leap Forward (1958–61)
  
  
•  Keywords
  Realism and Modernism, Remolding Chinese painting, Education must serve the proletarian politics, Emphasis on training in new year illustration, comic strip, and propaganda poster, Soviet Model, Konstantin Maksimov, Pavel Chistyakov
  
  
• Artist-educators
  Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian
  
  
•  Art education
  Establishment of the eight art academies, Establishment of 5-year schooling system and departments of Chinese paintings, oil paintings, prints and sculptures (mid-1950s), Konstantin Maksimov came to Chinese to train Chinese Art educators in Socialist-realism (1955-57)

 

Part II: Overview of China from 1958-66

Length: 6 minutes

• Key Events
  Sino-Soviet Split (1958), Socialist Education Movement (1963–66), Mexican Art Front Exhibition and David Alfaro Siqueiros’ talk (1956)

• Keywords
  Formalisation of the socialist nation, Hundred Flowers Campaign, Mexican Art, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Zheng Shengtian, Eugen Popa, Jin Yide

• Artist-educators
  Wu Zuoren, Luo Gongliu, Dongxiwen
  
  
•  Art Education
  Central Academy of Fine Arts adopted the studio system for the first time (1959), Strengthened artistic exchange between China and east-European countries (1960s), Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts invited Romanian artist Eugen Popa to conduct oil painting classes (1961-63)

 

Part III: Cultural Revolution (1966-76)

Length: 5 minutes

• Keywords
  Big-character poster, Red Guard Art, Art as political propaganda
  
  
• Art Education
  Rapture of education in art academies, Art classes for workers, peasants and soldiers, Universities started recruitment of workers, peasants and soldiers in 1970

 

Part IV: Overview of China from 1977 to 1989

Length: 6 minutes

• Key Events
  Death of Mao Zedong (1976), Resume of university entrance exams (1977), Reform and Opening, Tiananmen Square Incident (1989)
  
  
• Keywords
  Scar art, Debate over Realism, Unofficial art,  ‘85 New Wave, China Avant/Garde Exhibition (1989)
  
  
• Artist-educators
  Zheng Shengtian, Jin Yide
  
  
• Art Education
  Art academies started to introduce foreign art books (1979), state started to sponsor teachers to study overseas i.e. Zheng Shengtian
  
  

Part V: After the 2000s

Length: 7 minutes

• Keywords
  Expansion of China’s economy, Expansion of Nationwide University Enrolment (late 1990s), New Media Department at Central Academy of Fine Arts (2003-2010), Jiang Zhuyun, Lu Yang
  
  
• Artist-educators
  Zhang Peili, Geng Jianyi
  
  
• Art Education
  Expansion of higher education (1999), Experiments of contemporary art in formal art academies, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts was renamed China Academy of Art (1993), Zhang Peili and Geng Jianyi led the New Media Art Department (2003 – 2010)

 

Publishing date: 21 March 2022