Torn-Paper Calligraphy is a unique art form combining the arts of calligraphy and paper tearing. The calligraphic works, created by tearing paper with the bare hands, are later mounted in frames. Skilful and intricate, this craft can produce calligraphy of various styles including the standard, cursive, clerical and seal scripts and is even employed in seal carving.

Jiang Jinghua is a master of folk art from Anhui Province and the pioneer of Torn-Paper Calligraphy. One of the representative artists who carry on the intangible cultural heritage of Anhui Province, his works have been awarded gold prizes in various important exhibitions throughout the country.

BAMBOO JOINERY ART
23 / 09 ~ 05 / 10
2008

The Huang Mountain area has always bristled with bamboo groves. Products made of bamboo fall into three categories of bamboo craft: bamboo plaiting, bamboo sculpture and bamboo joinery. Derived from traditional bamboo sculpting arts, bamboo joinery employs modern techniques to create products that are modernistic in both form and character. Works include wall-hung portraits, three-dimensional portraits and abstract ornaments.

Drawing on the arts of stone carving, wood carving and paper cutting, Sun Fengji – who was born and raised in the district of Huang Mountain – originated the art of bamboo joinery. He has created over 1,000 art works over the past 40 years. As one of the pioneers of Huang Mountain arts and crafts, Sun has joined many exhibitions at home and abroad and won numerous awards.

PAPER CUTTING
07 ~ 19 / 10
2008

Paper Cutting is the craft of cutting and sculpting paper and is an ancient and traditional Chinese folk art. Because its tools and materials are commonplace and its skills are relatively easy to master, paper cutting as an art form has spread across the country and is universally respected by the general public.

Fang Junhua, a young artist from Anhui Province, excels in the art of paper cutting. Drawing on its traditional legacy, he skilfully manages to incorporate the arts of Chinese poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal carving into the creation of paper cuttings. A solo exhibition of his works was hosted in Hefei, and in 2007 he was awarded the silver medal in the Nationwide Calligraphy and Painting Talent Selection.

PHOENIX PAINTING
07 ~ 19 / 10
2008

Phoenix painting is a unique regional art peculiar to Fengyang, the birthplace of Emperor Hongwu. Originating in the early Ming Dynasty, it has sustained itself for centuries. The phoenixes featured in the paintings are particularly well structured, brightly coloured and intricately crafted. They embody an individual’s wish for joie de vivre and thus inevitably appear at weddings, when moving houses and at major festivals.

A native of Fengyang in Anhui Province, Wang Jinsheng – currently Director of the Office for Creation and Research of the Cultural Department of Fengyang County – is engaged in the rediscovery and rejuvenation of Fengyang Phoenix Painting. His Phoenix paintings are meticulous in structure, highly emotive and created with a view to accommodating a modernistic feel with national style.

SHADOW PUPPETS
21/10 ~ 02/11
2008

Shadow plays first appeared in Wannan some 400 years ago and are popular among the people. Shadow play puppets are made of strips of buffalo hide or yellow cow leather. There are rules for carving: ‘first carve the head and face, next the eyebrows, eyes and nose tip, then the hair and costume and finally the body’.

He Zehua is a shadow play artist from Anhui and a ninth-generation successor to the shadow plays of Wannan. He has dedicated himself to the promotion and study of this art as well as its promotion abroad. He is the founder of the South China Shadow Play Folk Art Museum, which produces and performs shadow-plays and is acclaimed as the only non-government troupe retaining the traditional heritage of shadow play theatre.

NUT CARVING
21 / 10 ~ 02 / 11
2008

Nut carving exploits the shapes, characteristics and irregular variations of nuts to fashion persons, animals and landscapes. The craft of nut carving, which includes picking, selection, composition, carving and preservative coating, demands that the artist possess patience, an eye for detail, conceptual thinking and a profound cultural knowledge in order to be able to instil boundless vitality in the creations.

Ma Yongbing, a nut carving artist from Xuancheng in Anhui Province, is renowned for his unique carving style and has created more than 1,000 nut carving pieces to date, all of which are finely cut, sophisticated and of profound significance. He is acknowledged as the ‘No. 1 nut carver in Xuancheng’ by his industry peers.

PAPER CUTTING AND TEARING
04 ~ 16 / 11
2008

Paper cutting is a time-honoured traditional folk art in China, which literally cuts out the intended images from paper. Scissors and knife are the tools most often used, but more recently, the art of paper tearing has evolved.

Zhang Yuzhu has engaged in the artistic creation of paper cutting and tearing works for 30 years, and is renowned for his exquisite technique of tearing horse motifs in paper. From among his extensive works, the “Portrait of Running Horses” was acquired by the collection at the National Art Museum of China, while his “Portrait of Eight Horses” was bestowed the most prestigious honour at the 4th Shanhua Award for Chinese Folk Art and Literature.

BRONZE CARVING
04 ~ 16 / 11
2008

Bronze carving refers to the carving of characters and images on bronzeware, and its creations are rare due to the highly sophisticated techniques involved. Bronze carvings, particularly on bronze pots, basins, stationery and smoking sets, have long been favoured by the literati and scholars. Cupronickel, brass, red copper and silver are often the most favoured materials, while steel or iron plate may also be used after special treatment.

Du Ping was born to a scholarly family in Anhui. Initially learning printmaking from his artist father Du Mingnian, he took up the art of bronze carving. His works employ exquisite skills, a wide range of themes and fine, lifelike representations. He produced a large bronze statue in collaboration with his father entitled “Song Qingling – Mother of the Nation”, which was acquired by a collection in Haikou, Hainan Province.

BAMBOO AND WOOD CRAVING
18 ~ 30 / 11
2008

Both bamboo and wood are natural materials. The various sculptural techniques in wood carving include ball sculpture, relief carving, openwork and line carving, utilising wood of a tenacious yet fine texture. Bamboo carving, on the other hand, may be divided into two types: surface carving – as can be seen on incense holders and desk items – and three-dimensional sculpture – figures, objects, birds and beasts carved from bamboo root.

Hong Jianhua, a master of Chinese crafts and fine arts, is a descendant of the Hui School of bamboo carving, a part of the intangible cultural heritage of Anhui Province. His bamboo carving “The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove” was added to the permanent collection of modern bamboo carving at the Palace Museum in 2006, becoming the first modern bamboo carving work to be acquired since the 1950s. Various other works of his are highly appreciated and purchased at high prices by collectors.

BAMBOO CARVING
18 ~ 30 / 11
2008

Bamboo carved to represent calligraphy or painting is an art form that replaces paper with bamboo and pen with knife. In terms of technique, it replicates the conventional carving technique of liuqing, marrying harmoniously the arts of calligraphy and painting with carving. It brings out beautifully the brushes, ink, dots and lines from calligraphy or painting.

Fang Guangchun has engaged in the study and creation of bamboo carving for some 20 years. He has produced a large number of works, some of which were showcased to high acclaim in the Huang Mountain Landscape Exhibition held in San Francisco and New York.

CLAY SCULPTURE
02 ~ 14 / 12
2008

Clay sculpture is a popular traditional folk art in China, rich in national flavour. It is handmade in original or artificial colours and primarily features people and animals. Its art works evolve from various schools or styles with distinguishing features that add to the sum of Chinese folk arts.

Shi Yourong has been active in art circles for 30 years and excels at modelling designs, creating matrixes and clay moulds. In 1992, he founded the Gucheng Clay Figure Factory and devoted himself to the promotion of clay sculpture handicrafts.

His assistant, Yuan Yangfei, has been engaged in the field of arts for 22 years. Proficient in the colouring of Wuxi clay figures, Yuan is a student of Luan Wenhui and Chang Xianglan, masters of Tianjin clay figure making, and is intimately familiar with the techniques of both the southern and northern schools.