Taking it to the streets

By Xiong Yuqing Source:Global Times Published: 2013-11-12 18:28:01

A pedestrian eyes the PSA posters featuring the work of Liu Zhigui. Photo: CFP

A pedestrian eyes the PSA posters featuring the work of Liu Zhigui. Photo: CFP

Art by Nirenzhang Photo: IC

Art by Nirenzhang Photo: IC

Posters of sculptures, New Year's paintings and paper cuttings are covering city squares and bus stations across China as part of the Stressing Civilization and Fostering New Practices series of public service announcements (PSAs).

The folk artists whose work is featured in the PSAs - the first collaboration between artists and the Public Service Advertising Art Committee - were invited by CNTV to an October 25 event that celebrated their efforts.

"It is very meaningful to showcase folk art traditions with slogans full of positive energy," said Yiqing, a freelance writer who goes by one name and contributed poems to the project.

According to the PSA center of CNTV, more than 1,200 of these pieces have been put up so far. Most of them were directly collected from folk artists. A smaller segment - less than 200 - were specially commissioned by the committee. Next up for the committee is a series of works created by artists that will focus on moral models.

"The founding of the committee offers a fixed place for where public messages are created," Wang Wenbin, director of the committee, said at a press conference. "This offers strong organizational benefits, and will help to improve the standard of creating advertisements that serve the public."

Poetry as a bridge

Yiqing is the principal writer of poems that connect the artwork with the themes. As most of the artwork is directly collected from folk artists rather than created for the theme, Yiqing's poems become the bridge for audiences to access the real meaning of the posters.

A clay sculpture of a smiling little girl in pink was selected as the representative for the series Chinese Dream, My Dream, which features a poem by Yiqing. The sculpture was created by Nirenzhang, a Tianjin studio famous for making painted clay sculptures.

Though "Chinese Dream" is quite a general theme, Yiqing connects it with a personal dream and the endearing expression on this girl's face.

"I just composed the poem for her a few minutes after I saw the photo," Yiqing said.

Yiqing has written poems for more than 150 posters among the public service ads that have already been released, and he is currently working on more newly selected posters.

"Some of the artwork really inspires me, so that I can compose the poem in a very short period of time. For most of the poems, I spend no more than a half a day," said Yiqing.

When asked about whether he worries about misunderstanding or misinterpreting the meaning of the original artwork, Yiqing told the Global Times that "people might have different understandings of the same artwork, and I won't compel them to agree with me."

According to Yiqing, as more artists are directly creating new works for the given themes, less now need the explanatory poems.

Revival of a painter

Among the traditional artists selected for the PSAs, Feng Zikai (1898-1975) might be the most special. The works of this late painter, writer and teacher still grace the pages of modern publications. His endearing scenes and open-minded thoughts are valuable for modern generations.

The Civilization Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China contacted Feng's descendants for the right to use his work in May and was provided more than 1,000 electronic copies of Feng's paintings for free.

"It is the first time that Feng's works will be used for PSAs," Song Xuejun, a grandson of Feng, told the Global Times. "I found them very suitable for this kind of ad."

After the invitation to participate, Song received more inquiries to use Feng's work in public advertisements. Now Line 11 of the Shanghai metro has become a special line with Feng's paintings on display for the public to view.

"Feng's works are very close to the people, showing vignettes of daily life with vivid details," added Song. "I believe my grandfather would be very happy to see his works used in PSAs."

Posters with Feng's works started to be seen in national publications and public areas in June.

"Now, his paintings can be easily recognized beside the roads, and I have received many phone calls telling me that," Song said.

Song is managing the old house of Feng as a permanent exhibition which tells the life of Feng in Shanghai with his cousins.

Now with Feng's art posted in most Chinese cities, the display room at his old house has see a jump in attendance, according to Song.

"We had about 70 to 100 guests a day in the past, but we have had at least 150 visitors daily after July," Song said. "Feng's fans are mostly living in eastern China, but now we have more northern visitors. Many people started to be curious about Feng after they saw the posters, and the name of our display room is clearly shown on the posters as well."

Cutting out a legacy

Following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother, Lü Jing, 30, has dedicated herself full-time to paper cutting since 2008, when she and her family completed a paper cutting series to celebrate the Beijing Olympic Games.

For the PSA, Lü and her mother Wang Zhenzhu completed 72 pieces of paper cutting, focusing on the 72 people who were chosen as modern models of Chinese traditional morals. Their combined efforts are shown on three posters which promote xiao (filial piety), cheng (honesty) and ren (kindness).

It's the custom in Lü's hometown to use this traditional art form to commemorate joyous occasions, such as wedding ceremonies.

"Many people living in our hometown are good at paper cutting, but few of them are doing this full time," said Lü, who lives in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province.

Lü learned paper cutting from her mother, who also taught her sons and daughters-in-law, but it only stuck with Lü.

"I do worry about someday people living their modern lives, and nobody continuing paper cutting," said Lü. "For me, it is fascinating."

Lü's daily work is designing paper cutting creations commissioned by governments or hotels. Sometimes a single design can take her several months to finish. She said she would like to be called an artist rather than a craftsman.

A 36-meter-long paper cutting by Lü and her mother was first shown at CNTV as a PSA in August. This work tells the famous stories of Guan Yu, the well-known ancient general. It garnered the loudest applause of all the PSA pieces when it was revealed at a press conference last month.

Lü said at the conference that her dream is to show the stories, customs and special places of China through her paper cutting as her legacy to pass on to her descendents.



Posted in: ARTS, Miscellany

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