LONG MARCH FOUNDATION
Long March Foundation is an organization promoting art exhibitions, led by Chinese curator Lu Jie. In 2002, it began to plan a series of contemporary art events, The Long March - A Walking Visual Display. In this project, over 100 artists engaged in artistic creations along the route of the Chinese Communist Party's 1934-1936 "Long March." The project introduced contemporary art to the Chinese public "from the bottom-up," while also attempting to gain a fresh understanding of China's contemporary culture "from the top down."
Organizer Lu Jie spent a year traveling between Beijing and northern Shaanxi Province in preparation for The Mapping of Yanchuan Papercuttings (2004), part of the Long March Project. With the support of the Yanchuan County government, artists and cultural workers from the county came together to undertake field surveys and documentary films mapping the spread of paper-cutting art. Part of the project was to collect samples of paper-cutting still extant among the people of Yanchuan County, and to invite them to create new works on the subjects with which they were most familiar or of which they were most fond, as well as providing individual photographs and oral and written records, in order to present an integrated image of the contemporary culture and economy of Yanchuan County.
Paper-cutting is a traditional household craft of northern Shaanxi Province. The local people(primarily women) use simple materials - paper and scissors - to create the products of their imaginations flowing from daily life. From a population of approximately 180,000, the project mapped out more than 14,000 people who continue this tradition. For nearly a century, a wide variety of paper-cutting motifs have emerged under the influence of different eras, such as the atmosphere of the communist revolution in the border region of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia Provinces in the 1940s; woodcut engraving styles of art academies and the interaction of social, political and artistic trends during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s; and the influence of professional artists and the tourism industry from the 1980s to the was to collect samples of paper-cutting still extant among the people of Yanchuan County, and to invite them to create new works on the subjects with which they were most familiar or of which they were most fond, as well as providing individual photographs and oral and written records, in order to present an integrated image of the contemporary culture and economy of Yanchuan County,Paper-cutting is a traditional household craft of northern Shaanxi Province. The local people(primarily women) use simple materials - paper and scissors - to create the products of their imaginations flowing from daily life. From a population of approximately 180,000, the project mapped out more than 14,000 people who continue this tradition. For nearly a century, a wide variety of paper-cutting motifs have emerged under the influence of different eras, such as the atmosphere of the communist revolution in the border region of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia Provinces in the 1940s; woodcut engraving styles of art academies and the interaction of social, political and artistic trends during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s; and the influence of professional artists and the tourism industry from the 1980s to the fessional artists and the tourism industry from the 1980s to the present day. The Mapping of Yanchuan Paper-cuttings presents the various styles of folk culture, and explores several issues related to the perpetuation of traditional arts and crafts in today's modern society. Paper-cutting can be viewed as the most subjective form of artistic expression among the people of northern Shaanxi, and the most resilient feature of local society. This project embarks from China's traditional aesthetic symbols and the everyday life of its people, rediscovering the power of people in relation to tradition and modernity, art and life, the individual and society, and heritage and innovation. -A.C.
http://www.longmarchfoundation.org
http://www.aaa.org.hk/details.asp?id=2397
http://195.159.153.25/english/exhibitions/shanghai/dbafile1073.html?1=1&PageNr=3
http://www.gbcc.org.uk/iss26arti.htm
http://www.reverberant.com/cw/ChinWhisp2Lang.pdf
Founded by Lu Jie (Born 1964 in Fujian, China) in New York, United States
Based in Beijing, China
Paper Cutting, 1993-2004
Video installation, 120'
Courtesy the Artist
Video installation, 120'
Courtesy the Artist
Long March Foundation is an organization promoting art exhibitions, led by Chinese curator Lu Jie. In 2002, it began to plan a series of contemporary art events, The Long March - A Walking Visual Display. In this project, over 100 artists engaged in artistic creations along the route of the Chinese Communist Party's 1934-1936 "Long March." The project introduced contemporary art to the Chinese public "from the bottom-up," while also attempting to gain a fresh understanding of China's contemporary culture "from the top down."
Organizer Lu Jie spent a year traveling between Beijing and northern Shaanxi Province in preparation for The Mapping of Yanchuan Papercuttings (2004), part of the Long March Project. With the support of the Yanchuan County government, artists and cultural workers from the county came together to undertake field surveys and documentary films mapping the spread of paper-cutting art. Part of the project was to collect samples of paper-cutting still extant among the people of Yanchuan County, and to invite them to create new works on the subjects with which they were most familiar or of which they were most fond, as well as providing individual photographs and oral and written records, in order to present an integrated image of the contemporary culture and economy of Yanchuan County.
Paper-cutting is a traditional household craft of northern Shaanxi Province. The local people(primarily women) use simple materials - paper and scissors - to create the products of their imaginations flowing from daily life. From a population of approximately 180,000, the project mapped out more than 14,000 people who continue this tradition. For nearly a century, a wide variety of paper-cutting motifs have emerged under the influence of different eras, such as the atmosphere of the communist revolution in the border region of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia Provinces in the 1940s; woodcut engraving styles of art academies and the interaction of social, political and artistic trends during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s; and the influence of professional artists and the tourism industry from the 1980s to the was to collect samples of paper-cutting still extant among the people of Yanchuan County, and to invite them to create new works on the subjects with which they were most familiar or of which they were most fond, as well as providing individual photographs and oral and written records, in order to present an integrated image of the contemporary culture and economy of Yanchuan County,Paper-cutting is a traditional household craft of northern Shaanxi Province. The local people(primarily women) use simple materials - paper and scissors - to create the products of their imaginations flowing from daily life. From a population of approximately 180,000, the project mapped out more than 14,000 people who continue this tradition. For nearly a century, a wide variety of paper-cutting motifs have emerged under the influence of different eras, such as the atmosphere of the communist revolution in the border region of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia Provinces in the 1940s; woodcut engraving styles of art academies and the interaction of social, political and artistic trends during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s; and the influence of professional artists and the tourism industry from the 1980s to the fessional artists and the tourism industry from the 1980s to the present day. The Mapping of Yanchuan Paper-cuttings presents the various styles of folk culture, and explores several issues related to the perpetuation of traditional arts and crafts in today's modern society. Paper-cutting can be viewed as the most subjective form of artistic expression among the people of northern Shaanxi, and the most resilient feature of local society. This project embarks from China's traditional aesthetic symbols and the everyday life of its people, rediscovering the power of people in relation to tradition and modernity, art and life, the individual and society, and heritage and innovation. -A.C.
http://www.longmarchfoundation.org
http://www.aaa.org.hk/details.asp?id=2397
http://195.159.153.25/english/exhibitions/shanghai/dbafile1073.html?1=1&PageNr=3
http://www.gbcc.org.uk/iss26arti.htm
http://www.reverberant.com/cw/ChinWhisp2Lang.pdf