A China’s cultural strength is an important symbol of China’s soft power, and contemporary Chinese art is a core element of Chinese culture. Culture is the expression of a country, and art is the indicator of social status. The creations of contemporary Chinese artists are a comprehensive reflection of China’s political, economic, cultural, social, and ecological construction, and are the best carrier to help the international community understand and understand contemporary China. Therefore, we must increase our efforts to promote contemporary Chinese art, especially the artistic achievements of the core value system with Chinese characteristics, to the world.
In recent years, Chinese art has moved from "the old Wang Xie Tang Qian Yan" to the broad international stage. However, as a cultural power, China still has some shortcomings and hidden dangers in international exchanges:
First of all, our "going out" art and cultural products focus on traditional culture, and the intensity, breadth, and depth of dissemination of contemporary art are far from enough. Foreign people often understand China through Sanxingdui, Terracotta Warriors and Horses, as well as ancient Chinese scriptures and calligraphy, but their understanding of contemporary Chinese culture and art is seriously lacking or biased or misunderstood. Those works that distorted the image of leadership and vilified the face of the Chinese people, which were produced under the consciousness of Western contemporaryism, were openly displayed in foreign art halls. On the contrary, many high-level works of art can only be displayed in general galleries, and the dignity of culture has been seriously damaged.
Secondly, we are always in a state of being "chosen". Large-scale art production and consumption have not established our artistic voice in the international market. Today's international art rules and standards are still Western. Unify the world. It is a good opportunity for Chinese art to gain Western attention, but it is also full of dangers of being "looked at". If we fail to establish China’s position and just copy Western avant-garde art, we will break with the profound traditional heritage of Chinese culture.
Thirdly, the current trend of many Chinese contemporary artworks in the international market does not entirely depend on the quality of the works themselves, but is also driven more by profit strategies. Artists are often misled. It seems that as long as they are recognized in the market, they can become world-famous in a short period of time. Artists do not have a comprehensive understanding of international resources and can only cooperate with overseas galleries or other art institutions in their own names. The quality of the works brought to the market varies between good and bad.
Because of the above deficiencies, contemporary Chinese art has been overly political and pop-oriented. The "Cultural Revolution" consciousness or the works produced by the "Cultural Revolution" are regarded as mainstream, or the elements of traditional Chinese culture have been transformed into It is generalized and industrialized as a sign of commercial value. Leads to simplicity and mediocrity. Even some artists with abnormal performance, low style, and sensationalism have gained popularity, causing the world to "misunderstand" China again and again.
B From the above, the construction of a value standard system is a very urgent matter in the process of Chinese art going international. On the premise of adhering to diversity, openness, and creative freedom, it is necessary to strengthen the selection criteria for the active export of cultural artworks and form a Chinese contemporary art assessment mechanism that develops healthily and harmoniously. Three principles should be grasped in the selection, namely healthy and noble thoughts, universal emotions and high level of artistry. Step by step, we will promote outstanding contemporary Chinese works of art that reflect the spirit of the times and national values ??and have an international perspective to the international stage, cultivate strong Chinese culture to go global, and gradually expand the international market for Chinese artworks.
It is necessary to strengthen the interaction between official institutions, formal art business institutions and mainstream media to form a good art export mechanism. The National Research Center for Modern and Contemporary Art and the National Research Center for Contemporary Art are two major art institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Culture. They gather the best experts in literary and art theory in the country and should give full play to their leading role in the international exchange of contemporary Chinese art.
Let Chinese artists understand the world. It is necessary to organize overseas inspections and further strengthen systematic research on foreign cultural and artistic exchanges.
At the same time, we will cultivate a group of art brokerage institutions with a broad international vision and the ability to integrate with the West, thereby forming a more dynamic and competitive art system, so that the Chinese art market can gain the most powerful influence in the process of building a global voice. support.
To discover and cultivate brand-level artists. A country's cultural renaissance cannot be separated from art giants. Only by comprehensively promoting first-class artists on the international stage can the country's cultural image be effectively established. The Spanish government paid a large sum of money to hire Picasso to create a painting to commemorate the Spanish Civil War, which gave rise to the world-famous masterpiece "Guernica"; the British government once commissioned Henry Moore to serve as the "official wartime artist", and Henry Moore took advantage of this Chance created the famous "Air Raid Shelter Sketch", which historically recorded the perseverance of the people of London in the anti-fascist war; the Japanese government purchased and collected Higashiyama Kaii's painting "Aftermath" in 1937, which made his art Recognized by society, it has flourished ever since; the U.S. government built a special museum for Andy Warhol in Pittsburgh, promoting the spread of Pop Art around the world. In short, the emergence of an international art master cannot be separated from the support and promotion given by his motherland. When an artist becomes internationally famous, he can create endless material and spiritual wealth for his motherland.
We want the world to have a profound understanding of Chinese art and translate classic works overseas in a planned way. This is an important measure to enhance the international influence of Chinese culture. It will not only help the spread of Chinese cultural spirit, but will also play a positive role in promoting the development of world culture and art. Compared with the prosperous situation of translating and introducing Western art theory works and artists' works, the work of systematically translating and promoting contemporary Chinese art theory works and artists' representative works overseas is quite lagging behind in terms of scale and quality. Lack of organization, there is no organization to coordinate and manage the translation and promotion of contemporary Chinese art theoretical works and representative works of artists; Lack of systematization, there is no long-term comprehensive plan for external translation work, and there is no clear idea of ??which works can be regarded as classics of Chinese art theory and which ones There is a lack of relatively unified standards for artistic works that can represent the highest level of Chinese art, and there is no clear directory. The lack of professional knowledge makes high-quality translations rare and unable to have strong international influence.
As a newly emerging economic power, China will face more severe international challenges. In the process of competition and cooperation with the world, contemporary art, as an important role in multiple cultural conflicts, can promote the understanding, recognition, communication and coordination of cultural differences with its unique identity. From a global perspective, we are facing a major change, an important opportunity for cultural discovery and the reconstruction of artistic value. We should seize the opportunity and proactively and strategically promote Chinese contemporary art to go international and into the future.
C As China becomes increasingly powerful, it can no longer be satisfied with simply participating in culture and art in the world. The competition for international discourse power has become the goal pursued by Chinese contemporary art.
I have been engaged in art creation, teaching, and research for 30 years, traveling between dreams and reality. Its dream is to display the Chinese spirit by shaping outstanding figures in Chinese history, establish monuments of the times, turn profound traditions into resources for today's art, integrate into the current of human culture, and spread and promote Chinese culture in the international community.
In the past 20 years, I have held art exhibitions in three places across the Taiwan Strait, and then toured Japan, South Korea, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the United Nations Headquarters, and Italy. A series of sculptures of cultural figures symbolized by "Laozi" and "Confucius", works representing universal human feelings represented by "Sleeping Boy" and "Mother and Son", and "Group Sculptures of the Memorial Hall for the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese Invaders" The work, which expresses prayers for world peace, has won praise from international figures including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban Ki-moon believed: "These works reflect not only the soul of a country, but also the soul of all mankind." He wrote "The best is like water" in neat handwriting as a gift. This further proves that the world’s recognition and recognition of Chinese culture has been gained through the art of the series of statues of Chinese cultural figures.
The exhibition tour went to Rome, the sculpture capital of the world. Sculptures such as "Confucius", "Laozi" and "Li Bai" were in dialogue with the works of Michelangelo and Manzu for the first time in the National Museum of Italy. Among them, the group sculpture "Dialogue" ——Leonardo Da Vinci and Qi Baishi" was approved by the Italian Ministry of Culture and is permanently collected and displayed in the National Museum of Italy, Palazzo Venezia. This 570-year-old palace has witnessed the Italian people's deep affection for Chinese culture.
In December 2012, his work "Unity of Nature and Man - Laozi" was exhibited at the Louvre in France and won the only gold medal for sculpture in an international art exhibition. The work chose a shape similar to the tripod of culture, with the Tao Te Ching engraved inside, telling the world about China's harmonious thoughts with its profound and kind face...
At the same time, South Korea established the "Wu Weishan Sculpture" Park", the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK, collects and displays my "Portrait of Confucius", and art halls such as Johns Hopkins University, the University of Paris, and the National Museum of Italy collect and display my series of statues of outstanding Chinese figures... They are distributed in the world.
While conveying Chinese culture through the works themselves, I also spread Chinese culture in lectures at many universities around the world. In 2011, he participated in the Second Sino-US Cultural High-Level Forum and gave speeches at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and Columbia University, explaining the genes of Chinese culture and explaining that Chinese culture is the purest and sweetest milk in the motherland. I dreamed in my mother's arms, grew while sucking breast milk, and realized my dreams with moral style and physical and intellectual work.
The emergence and development of contemporary Chinese art is not isolated. It connects the past, present and future, and reflects its own value within the larger scope of the historical process of world civilization. It will integrate the Chinese Dream into the ideal ideal of human social development.