Miao painting: Life-forged art
Deep in the mountains of Guizhou Province in southwest China, there live a group of people who plow and paint. Sharply contrasting today's fashionable pop art, pieces created by the Miao ethnic group realistically depicts their everyday life, farming, cooking, embroidering, singing and dancing. With bright colors and delicate brushwork, art returns to its very original and simple form.
With verdant mountains seen in all directions, life is simple here in Pingpo village. The locals are ethnic Miao people, a minority with over 5000 years' of history. Till today, the villagers seem to maintain their simple way of life. Getting close to nature inspires their artistic talent in various fields. Miao people's cross-stitching, embroidery, and batik are all internationally known. However in here, the villagers find painting a freer way to express their inner world.
50-year-old Lan Dezhen is meeting her friend to discuss their painting. They've been keeping this schedule for years. When the farming season passes, their painting workshop often lasts for seven to eight hours.
Lan Dezhen, Villager, said, "This painting is about our herding cattle, about how he works. We paint it because this is our way of life."
So far, there are around a hundred people engaged in painting during the slow season. Among them, the oldest is over eighty, while the youngest is not yet sixteen. They paint what they feel in their hearts, the blue skies above their head, the rivers flowing through the mountains... the world in their eyes.
Hu Shourong, Professor of China Academy of Art, said, "It's definitely a surprise that there would be such a group of people. They gather happily, singing folk songs, chanting legendary ballads, and of course, painting. It's a sort of retur! ning to the simplest state of life. That's what we call the art of life."
Early since 1995, a Miao man named Lan Kaijun has begun attracting public attention with his excellent work. He has never stepped into any art school; rather, the environment he was brought up in was his college. Lan studies and refines Miao-style painting and wins many awards.
Lan Kaijun, Miao Artist, said, "When I was a boy, my mother and other elders in my family engaged in embroidery and batik. I grew up in this environment, and I believe painting is the road that I was born to take."
Lan also works as a painting tutor in the village and gives lectures every month, encouraging villagers for painting. A sixty-meter-long painting scroll was jointly painted by a hundred Miao painters and donated to the sixtieth National Day anniversary. Later a ninety-meter-long work entitled "Superb Miao Country" was donated for the ninetieth birthday of the Communist Party of China.
Pingpo Miao painting has become a name card for Guizhou Province. It was originally called Pingpo Farmer Painting. However, with all walks of life starting to immerse themselves in the traditional art forms, their sources and themes have been varied. Since 2007, the local government has invested in building galleries and art fairs to promote their folk art. Now, "cultural industry" is a popular word among the villagers.
"We want to turn our ethnic culture into works of art and cultural products to bring them to the market. It's hard though. So far, we have a promising prospect of sales and it greatly inspires our villagers to paint more good works. We are now doing our best to exploit the market outside the province, throughout the country, or even out of the country. Folk art should go outside and get industrialized to maintain a strong life." Lan said.
Industrialization may be a trend in art development. However, with the enticing market need, many folk paintings diverge to a more decorative style and loses its original flavor. Between c! ultural industrialization and maintaining its unique style, folk art still has a long way to go.
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