With the two sessions of the National People's Congress in 2022 about to be convened, what good ideas will Guangdong deputies and members bring? Xu Hongfei, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and president of the Guangzhou Sculpture Institute, brought a proposal entitled "Telling Chinese Stories Well and Promoting Civilization Exchanges", suggesting that literary and art workers should focus on the model figures and typical examples emerging from social hotspots such as rural revitalization, fighting against the epidemic, aerospace, and the Winter Olympics as materials, carry out artistic creation, record the stories of the times, and praise the spirit of the times, so that artistic creation can become a powerful carrier for transmitting China's new image and disseminating contemporary Chinese values.
Overseas exchange exhibits are weakly contemporary
Xu Hongfei said that since 2013, I have brought the "Fat Girl" series of sculptures to iconic spaces around the world, and have held 43 exhibitions so far. After 43 world tour exhibitions, I think that our current overseas cultural exchange activities have the following problems: exhibition and exchange activities are mostly held in local museums, exhibition halls, and cultural centers, and there are few works known to the general public; the contemporary nature of the exhibits is weak, focusing more on the display of cultural relics and intangible cultural heritage and natural landscapes; and the cultural products provided are basically homogenized, which is difficult to resonate with overseas audiences.
Xu Hongfei
In view of the above problems, in the proposal of "Telling Chinese Stories and Helping Civilization Exchanges", he suggested that we should give full play to the power of "folk art diplomacy" and expand foreign cultural exchanges, so as to improve the appeal of Chinese culture and the affinity of Chinese image, and promote the common development of cultures in various countries in interaction. At the same time, let literary and artistic creation cut into the cultural and economic development practice of rural revitalization, give full play to the role of literature and art in educating, and comprehensively promote the revitalization of rural culture.
In addition, he also proposed to hold art display activities in public venues and outdoor spaces abroad to narrow the distance between them and overseas people, so that more people can contact and embrace contemporary Chinese art; break the simple and solidified understanding of "national cultural recognition" and incorporate more works of art that are upright and innovative and disseminate contemporary Chinese values; accelerate the reform of institutional mechanisms, give more support to spontaneous art exchanges among the people, and consolidate the chassis for foreign exchanges.
Xu Hongfei said that for foreign audiences to deepen their understanding of China and enhance their understanding of China through the works of Chinese artists, they must make perseverance and long-term efforts. The communication, experience, and feeling of "being present" and "not present" is very different. To this end, we need more artists to participate together to create works with uniqueness, creativity and commonality, so as to enhance the discursive power of telling Chinese stories well, and show the image of healthy China, happy China, happy China and confident China on the world stage.
On February 22 this year, the 43rd stop of the "Hello, Year of the Tiger" Xu Hongfei Sculpture World Tour opened in Salamanca, Spain, and will last until April 6. This is the fourth consecutive year that Salamanca has invited Xu Hongfei's sculptures to be exhibited in the city center during the Spring Festival.
"Hello, Year of the Tiger" Xu Hongfei sculpture world tour exhibition 43rd stop in Salamanca, Spain
It is reported that at the two sessions, Xu Hongfei also submitted the "Proposal on Further Promoting the Identification of the National Vocational Education Industry-Education Integration Team and the Industry-Education Integration Practice Teaching Base", proposing to add the relevant identification of the national higher vocational education integration team and the practical teaching base, improve the evaluation mechanism, standards and funding policies for the identification of the national higher vocational education integration team and the practical teaching base, and lead the construction of a high-quality "double-teacher" teacher team.
An artist who loves country research
In recent years, Xu Hongfei has investigated more than 50 villages across the country, bringing sculpture art into the countryside while investigating. "My art comes from life, from the grassroots, from this land, and from the lovely people."
At the 2020 national "two sessions", Xu Hongfei once put forward the proposal of "art boosts rural revitalization and cracks the dual structure of urban and rural areas", and in 2021, he submitted a proposal of "sending art to the countryside to contribute cultural strength, and the integration of industry and art to help rural revitalization". He hopes to enrich the connotation of beautiful countryside by holding sculpture exhibitions, promote the development of rural cultural tourism, and add new development vitality to the cause of rural revitalization in various places.
"The countryside is the starting point of my artistic career, and my art comes from life, from the grassroots, from this land, and from the lovely people." Under this original intention, Xu Hongfei has walked through the 17th stop of "Art Boosts Rural Revitalization Xu Hongfei Sculpture Art Hundred Villages Exhibition". Xu Hongfei said that he hopes that through the empowerment of art, the rural environment can be further improved, so that the people's lives can be better, and the artistic literacy of rural children can also be improved. In the future, we can strengthen the integration of rural industry and art, promote the organic combination of different art forms, encourage more artists to participate in it, and achieve comprehensive revitalization of rural areas.
Written by: Nandu reporter Xu Xiaolei intern Chen Yingni