The fine art, calligraphy, and photography exhibition of the three provinces “Red Dabie Mountains, Glorious Provinces Hubei, Henan and Anhui” opened on July 6 in the Guanggu Fine Art Museum of the South-Central University for Nationalities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China and to enhance the Party history learning and education through art.
The exhibition is divided into three exhibition halls with 270 artworks on display. Most of the works were created by artists from Hubei, Henan, and Anhui provinces, who thoroughly collected inspiration in the old revolutionary area base of the Dabie Mountains. According to the exhibition manager, the provinces Hubei, Henan, and Anhui expanded cooperation, enhanced art exchange, coordinated artists to make art on the same topic, and curated the fine art, calligraphy, and photography exhibition of the three provinces “Red Dabie Mountains, Glorious Provinces Hubei, Henan, and Anhui”. Many older artists continue to tirelessly create art work. Artists Zhou Shaohua, Zhang Shanping, and Xiao Caizhou are more than 90 years old. The brilliant work “Be Fervent and Achieve Glory” by 75-years-old artist Xu Benyi with several large characters attracted the attention of the public. The artists found the source material for the artworks at the grassroots level, going deep into the realities of life. During the period of poverty alleviation in rural areas, Xiao Bohong from Anhui used all his spare time to create a four-panel painting “My Poverty Alleviation Diary”. Liu Ping from Henan created a photo series “Song Rui’s Poverty Alleviation at the Grass-roots Level”, a true portrayal of a staff member of the Henan Survey Team of the National Bureau of Statistics working on poverty alleviation at the grass-roots level for nine years. Huang Peng from Hubei spent three years on a photo series Huanghuang High-Speed Railway that documented the construction of the high-speed railway in Huangguang. The author Chen Minghua channeled his feelings about the time he joined the Party history learning and education campaign in the old revolutionary region Hongan into his calligraphy.
Deng Changqing, Secretary of the Party Cell of the Hubei Province Federation of Literary and Art Circles, said that the 270 artworks presented at the exhibition conveyed artists’ respect for the Party and deep love for the people of the old regions. He expressed the hope that this event would explore new directions for the “joint contribution and shared benefits” of the provincial Federations of Literary and Art Circles, create a new model for the mutual learning of art workers in the three provinces and bring new glory for the prosperous development of literature and art in the new era.
“This exhibition is a practical action that the art circles of the provinces Hubei, Henan, and Anhui took to conduct the Party history learning and education campaign. It created an excellent platform for learning, exchange, and self-improvement for Anhui artists,” said the Chairman of Anhui Federation of Literary and Art Circles Chen Xianfa at the opening of the exhibition.
Hua Ren, Vice-President of the Professional Photographers Association of Luotian County, Hubei Province, believes that photography reflects reality, takes source in the grass-roots level, and conveys the rapid socio-economical change and development, the improvement of people’s lives, that is inseparable from the precise implementation of the poverty alleviation strategy and the joint efforts of the party and the people. After visiting the exhibition, Mr. Zhou, a resident of Wuhan, said that most of the works had their origin in folk art. They demonstrate not only the improvement in the quality of people’s lives but also the spiritual enrichment of common people. We must pass on the revolutionary spirit of the past generations, and the fine art, calligraphy, and photography exhibition also inherited that spirit.
The fine art, calligraphy, and photography exhibition “Red Dabie Mountains, Glorious Provinces Hubei, Henan, and Anhui” was hosted by Hubei, Henan, and Anhui Federations of Literary and Art Circles and organized by Hubei Illustrated Magazine. (Li Yuchi, Lu Yunliang, Wang Xu)
