SoFA Presents:
East and West Walk Forward: Luxun Academy of Fine Arts (China) Teachers' Exhibition
Reid Gallery
The Glasgow School of Art
23 Sept - 29 Oct 2017
Preview: Friday 22 Sept, 5 - 7pm
Ershen Wei, Aijun Yu, Shuo Wang, Pengpeng Li, Zhijian Zhang, Bo Zhang, Ying Shen, Rui Liang, Suping Chen, Yan Li, Lei Mu, Cheng Yan, Shihe Gao, Sui Li, Tao Hong, Yingzuo Qu, Dagong Wang, Baoping Zhao, Yaqi Huang, Zhijun Xue, Guanyi Zhang, Yan Wang, Yifei Zhang, Haijun Zhang, Han Tian, Lihong Liu, Dan Xu, Bofu Zhang, Huina Wang, Yigang Wang, Dong Lin, Feng Zhang, Xiangqun Li, Dan Zhang, Yang Jiao and Boyang Huo.
The School of Fine Art (SoFA) is delighted to introduce the staff exhibition from our partners Luxun Academy of Fine Arts (LAFA), East and West Walk Forward, curated by Xiaoai Wang. SoFA have had an agreement in place between the two institutions, LAFA and GSA, for the last four years and are delighted to welcome LAFA’s staff and their work to Glasgow.
The agreement between LAFA and GSA SoFA includes student and staff exchange, with both LAFA and GSA sending staff to undertake different workshops at the other institution. This has included Sculpture, Photography and Printmaking workshops delivered in Shenyang by GSA staff, and Sculpture and Traditional Chinese Painting workshops here at GSA for our students. Included in the agreement is the opportunity to exhibit staff work, and therefore staff from LAFA have been invited to present their artistic practices at the Reid Gallery, which will be followed by GSA staff presenting their work in Shenyang during 2018.
This is an important exhibition, not only in the context of the relationship between the two institutions, but also as an exhibition in its own right, showcasing some of the most eminent artists practicing in China today. [1]
This exhibition represents a deepening of understanding on a larger scale, between two cultures, and a signpost of the developing intercultural space which, increasingly, we share; in which we cooperate and collaborate, address the challenges of shared global citizenship, and, most importantly, into which our students graduate and assume their responsibilities of shaping the future.
It represents a shared space, created through transnational and transcultural communication, in which dialogue and exchange are possible beyond the barriers of language. The range of practices and of subjects – traditional and contemporary – demonstrates, even in this small sample, the wealth of skill and insight found amongst LAFA’s academic staff. It further points the way forward, to new possibilities in practice through exposure to one another’s cultures and ideas, through mutual learning, the sharing of insights and the opportunities that each institution offers to the students and staff of both. [2]
[1] Excerpt of introductory text written by Professor Alistair Payne, Head of School of Fine Art, GSA
[2] Excerpt of introductory text written by Xiaoai Wang, Curator of East and West Walk Forward, LAFA
Luxun Academy of Fine Arts was founded in 1938 as Luxun Academy of Arts by Communist Party of China leaders, including Zedong MAO and Enlai ZHOU, in the town of Yan'an, Shaanxi Province. The school was moved to Shenyang in 1945 and was renamed Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in 1958.
After 79 years of effort, LAFA have two campuses in Shenyang and Dalian, campus covers an area of 957662.94 square meters, the library has 592,073 books, and also has more than 3000 pieces of authentic paintings and calligraphies. The Art Museum is 23796.77 square meters.
The Shenyang campus offers 10 specialties: Chinese painting, Calligraphy, Painting & Printmaking, Sculpture, Fine Art Photography, Filming, Environmental Art Design, Fashion & Textile Design, Product Design and Art History.
The Dalian campus offers 5 specialities: Communication Design, Animation, Craft Arts, Multimedia Arts, Fashion Design (Design & Pattern Making).
Currently, the Academy has 64 professors, 142 associate professors, 235 lectures, 106 teaching assistants and 8000 students. LAFA is now authorized to offer master degrees in all these fields.
The teaching method of LAFA adheres to the social development and requirements of the times, by strengthening basic skills training and developing and employing a rigorous teaching system that reflects real life through creative teaching; reflecting the Chinese era of reform as the main purpose, and to encourage students to study and experiment with contemporary art and advocate personality and language expression through contemporary art. In the construction of each course discipline, emphasis is placed on the infiltration and complementation of humanities, plastic arts and design art, so as to form a talent training mode with its own characteristics.
Over the years, LAFA has produced a large number of artistic talents who are widely welcomed by the society, as well as design talents of different levels needed by the Chinese state. Many of them become Chinese art and design leaders and famous artists in outstanding professional fields. These individuals have written many artistic appeals on the influence of works of art and classical works. Their distinctive creative features attract the attention of the Chinese art and design industry.
The Academy has also established long-term academic partnerships with more than 30 art schools and institutions all over the world.
In 2017, professor LI, Xiangqun is the 7th president of LAFA. Xiangqun wants LAFA to continue to develop in the spirit of Luxun Academy of Arts: standing at the forefront of the times, to be a leader of the times, and to serve the people of the whole country.
