China Arts

With such a long, unbroken history and culture, China has made one of the greatest artistic contributions to mankind. Sadly, much of China's an- cient art treasures have been destroyed in times of civil war or dispersed by invasion or natural calamity. Many of China's remaining great paint- ings, ceramics, jade and other works of art were rescued by exile beyond the mainland - in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and elsewhere.

The West has also been guilty of ransacking China's heritage, making off with religious art and scriptures from such grottoes as Dunhuang. Fortunately since the early 1970s a great deal of work has been done to restore what was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.

China today has a flourishing contemporary art scene, with private galleries competing with government-run museums and exhibition halls. Chinese artists are increasingly catching the attention of the international art world and joint exhibitions with European or American artists are now common. The Beijing Biennale, held in the autumn of 2003, was the first international exhibit of its kind to showcase artworks from over 40 countries and serve as a representative platform for some of China's top artists.

Visual Arts

CALLIGRAPHY

Calligraphy has been traditionally regarded in China as the highest form of artistic expression. The basic tools, commonly referred to as 'the four treasures of the scholar's study', are paper, ink, ink-stone (on which the ink is mixed) and brush. These materials, which are shared by Chinese painters, reflect the close relationship between Chinese painting and calligraphy.

Calligraphy is still an extremely popular pastime in China and a major area of study. It can be seen all over China - on documents, artworks, in temples, adorning the walls of caves, and on the sides of mountains and monuments. There is an annual calligraphy festival held every year outside Shaoxing in Zhejiang province.

PAINTING

Chinese painting is the art of brush and ink applied onto xuan (paper), or silk. The basic tools are those of calligraphy, which has influenced painting in both its style and theory. The brush line, which varies in thickness and tone, is the important feature or a Chinese painting, along with calligraphy itself, which is usually incorporated in the form of an inscription or poem along with the artist's seal. Shading and colour play only a minor symbolic and decorative role.

From the Han dynasty until the end of the Tang dynasty, the human figure occupied the dominant position in Chinese painting. The practice of seeking places of natural beauty and communing with nature first be- came popular among Taoist poets and painters, and landscape painting for its own sake started in the 4th and 5th centuries.

From the 11th century onwards, landscape was to dominate Chinese painting. Towards the end of the Ming dynasty, a group of painters known as the Individualists diverged from traditional techniques with unusual compositions and brushwork; however it was not until the 20th century that there was any real departure from native traditions.

Since the late 1970s, the Chinese art scene has gradually recovered. The work of traditionally influenced painters can be seen for sale in shops and galleries all over China, while in the major cities a flourishing avant-garde scene has emerged. The work of Chinese painters has been arguably more innovative and dissident than that of writers, possibly because the political implications are harder to interpret by the authori- ties. For those interested in purchasing art, it's a good idea to head to the smaller independent galleries and inquire there.

TOP CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERIES

These galleries are the most well known in China and show work by some of China's top inter- nationally recognised artists.

The Courtyard, Beijing

Red Gate Gallery, Beijing

China Academy of Art, Hangzhou

Plum Blossoms, Hong Kong

Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong

Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai

ShanghArt, Shanghai

Art Scene, Shanghai