Draw from the Sources, Venture with the Greats: Academic Events Commemorating the 95th Anniversary of China Academy of Art

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Nov 13, 2023, 09:00 ET

HANGZHOU, China, Nov. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On the morning of November 10, the 95th Anniversary Celebration of China Academy of Art (CAA) took place at the Liangzhu Campus in Hangzhou, China. The day culminated in the grand ceremony of the "Full Opening of CAA Liangzhu Campus and 'Draw from the Sources, Venture with the Greats' 95th Anniversary Academic Events."

Since 2000, the CAA has its every "fifth" anniversary celebrated in the second half of the year. The themes of all these celebrations go beyond the CAA's history and revolve around frontier academic topics. This year's 95th anniversary celebrations, themed "Draw from the Sources, Venture with the Greats", are centered on discussions on the issues of art education, against a macro landscape of cultural exchanges across world civilizations, and explore the modernization of art education and the nurturing of new-age, contemporary artistic talents.

Starting from September 19, a series of events unfolded, including "The Way Is Infinite: Centennial Retrospective Exhibition of Zao Wou-Ki," "Proposal to Leonardo Da Vinci − Shanghai Science and Art Exhibition", the First CAA Synesthesia & Liberal Arts International Forum and "Artistic Experience and Knowledge Production: The Way of Innovation and Research in Professional Doctorate Program - The 5th National Art Education Forum".

The centerpiece of CAA's 95th-anniversary events is "IWV2023: Mutual-Learning of Civilizations". This event views human civilization as a whole, transcending temporal and spatial boundaries. It aligns 12 artistic and humanistic directions of the Academy's unique disciplines − "Time, Shanshui, Design, Media, Object, Writing Image, Literature, and Sci-Fic, Garden, Art, and Knowledge" − with 12 major humanistic directions in natural and social sciences − "Life, Basin, Society, Technology, Belief, Culture, History, Nation, Relic, Time, Education, and the World." This alignment formed 12 interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students. Over the summer, these teams embarked on global explorations to places such as "Lufeng Dinosaur Valley, Amazon Basin, Silicon Valley, Volcanoes in Iceland, Leonardo da Vinci's Residence, Rusakov Workers' Club, Damaidi, Yangjialing Revolutionary Site, and Katsura Imperial Villa," and other key sites, seeking the historical and anthropological significance behind art. From November 10 to 13, these 12 teams reconvened at the newly inaugurated Liangzhu Campus to hold the "Reports from the World" image launch event and the "Starplex" exhibition. They shared insights, questions, and findings from their global expeditions. This series of events will transform the Liangzhu Campus into a hub of artistic reactions, fostering an exchange of ideas and mutual learning of civilizations.

In 1928, Mr. Cai Yuanpei, the then Minister of Education, founded the National Academy of Art (now CAA) beside West Lake in Hangzhou, which was China's first integrated national institution of higher learning in arts, commencing tertiary education in arts in the country. Today, CAA has grown into a large institution with five campuses and a community of ten thousand. Each of the five campuses of CAA has a distinct focus:

Nanshan Campus: A modern art education center that connects the contemporary and classic, East and West

Xiangshan Campus: A progressive public art space by and for the people

Liangzhu Campus: An international innovative design hub that bridges science, art and business

Xianghu Campus: An institute of classic Chinese art, which passes on the legacies of the Chinese culture and paves the way for a better tomorrow

Zhangjiang Campus: An international, trans-disciplinary innovation hub and business incubator

The clear positioning of its campuses defines the CAA's current educational goals and academic aspirations. Over the past two decades, this expansive academy has grown exponentially in scale and depth while continually responding to its fundamental educational ideals and artistic concerns – Core Site of Art Education, Frontier of Art Education, and Manifesto of Academic Ethos.

SOURCE China Academy of Art