On June 28, the 2024 Jun County Intangible Cultural Heritage 100 Clay Sculpture Competition hosted by the Jun County Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, the Jun County Federation of Trade Unions, and the Jun County Human Resources and Security Bureau, and undertaken by the Jun County People's Cultural Center and Jun County Ancient City Operation Company, was held in the Confucian Temple of Jun County. The competition attracted 120 people from the intangible cultural heritage inheritors of clay sculptures, clay sculpture practitioners and clay sculpture enthusiasts to participate.
There are 60 contestants in the professional group, 30 contestants in the social adult group, and 30 contestants in the social children's group. The kneading professional group takes "Seal the Hou immediately", the social adult group takes "sheep", and the social children's group takes "duckling" as the theme.
They kneaded pieces of mud into balls, kneaded them into strips, and laid them out into sheets, using their dexterous hands to shape lifelike works with the mud, showing their superb skills and deep understanding of traditional culture. Most of the painted feathers are made of white, supplemented by green, yellow, red and other pigments, so that the rustic mud goo blooms with a different brilliance.
At the scene of the competition, the atmosphere was warm, tense and orderly. "This is the eye, this is the mouth, do you think I pinched the duckling?" Wang Nuoyan, a contestant in the children's group, discussed with his peers while pinching. Pieces of clay circulate at the children's fingertips, and soon become creative and vibrant clay sculptures. The children combined their innocent imagination with intangible cultural heritage to create unique works.
At the scene of the professional group competition, a lump of mud was "lived" in the hands of clay sculpture artists, turning into galloping "horses" and cute "little monkeys".
The judges conducted a rigorous review according to the scoring criteria, and finally selected the first prize, the second prize, the third prize and the excellence award.
"This competition has provided me with a stage to showcase my talents, and I am very happy to receive the award. I participated in the competition to show you the cultural and regional characteristics of our Jun County and inherit the intangible cultural heritage. Li Weixue, the first prize winner of the professional group of the competition, said excitedly.
Shen Limin, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of Jun County Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, said that Jun County clay sculpture is a national intangible cultural heritage, with a long history and unique artistic style, this competition is of great significance for promoting traditional culture, improving the public's awareness of intangible cultural heritage, and improving the operation skills of intangible cultural heritage inheritors, which will help more people understand and love clay sculptures, and help Jun County build a culturally strong county.