Ink art academy set up to promote Shanghai as artistic center
An Academy of Contemporary Ink Art was unveiled on Thursday at Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts to rejuvenate Chinese culture and help make Shanghai a world center of arts.
The academy will be a platform for artists and theorists of contemporary ink art to communicate with each other and inspire innovation, said Liu Guosong, director of the newly established institute.
Liu, 87, is widely regarded as “the father of contemporary Chinese ink painting.”
Liu said he used to be fond of Western painting but converted to advocating modernist Chinese painting in the 1960s after he saw exhibitions of Western artists who were influenced by Chinese painting.
“I had been thinking of reviving Chinese painting and moving the art's center back to China,” he added. “Today my dream comes true — I hope it’s a turning point for Chinese painting.”
Liu said the new academy will serve not only as an innovation platform, but will also combine artistic creation with the cultural creative industry and talent education.
Its staff will teach undergraduates at Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and cooperate with enterprises and the market to help students with future career choices.
The university will welcome the first class of students majoring in Contemporary Ink Art in September.
An exhibition was also unveiled on Thursday with paintings by Liu to mark the opening of the academy and his 87th birthday.
An Academy of Contemporary Ink Art is unveiled at Shanghai Institute of Visual Art on Thursday.
A painting created by Liu Guodong for the BRICS Summit last year.
