HANGZHOU, China, April 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On April
4th, 1928, Mr. Cai Yuanpei delivered a speech
titled Academies Should Be Set up for Academic Research at
the opening ceremony of the National Academy of Art (now China
Academy of Art (CAA)), where he proposed that the University
Council (the then Educational Ministry) should establish an academy of art along
West Lake, to create beauty, so that present and future generations
could get rid of superstition, harbor the love for beauty and thus
obtain a true life. In the spring
of 1928, China's first national
institution of higher art education, the National Academy of Art,
was created, marking the beginning of higher art education in
China.
Last year, CAA in a series of activities commemorating its 95th
anniversary reviewed its educational journey, promoted its artistic
propositions, and highlighted its achievements, as it embarked on a
new journey toward becoming a world-class century-old prestigious
school. In 2023, CAA started "CAA Report", a platform for
launching cultural and creative initiatives on April 8 every year—the anniversary of the opening
ceremony of the National Academy of Art. This event is expected to
evolve beyond the Academy to become a celebration of Chinese
culture, art, and the entire creative industry. The Academy
announced, at its 2023 CAA Report, the inauguration of the School
of Calligraphy, the Institute for Advanced Study in Chinese Cinema,
and the School of Social Aesthetic Education, as well as two
brand-new entities: CAA Cosmos, and Meta Art Academy.
As this year marks its 96th anniversary, the Academy unveiled
five initiatives at its 2024 CAA Report, namely, the "CAA Century
Masters" Creation and Research Project, CAA Changjiang Delta Art
Action, CAA AI Center, Photography Center of Better China
Institution, and Research Center of Art-Synesthesia. The century
academic project, the innovative art initiative, and the three
interdisciplinary research centers are underpinned by CAA's century
academic strategy.
As President Gao Shiming stated, "Today's CAA Report unveils a
splendid array of initiatives, from projects that delve into the
Academy's historical context and shape the legacies of our 'Century
Masters', to efforts that advance high-quality development in the
Yangtze River Delta, along with exploring the future possibilities
of interplay between Artificial Intelligence and Artistic
Intelligence. Here, we behold the 'classical studies' of a
century-old prestigious school, the 'practical education' that both
roots deeply in Chinese soil and promotes a Better China, as well
as the 'creative education' that transcends disciplines and
integrates the Way and objects. These fresh endeavors illustrate
the expansive vision and lofty ambitions of all CAA members."
Launch of the CAA Century Masters Project to encapsulate the
century legacies of CAA
In its 96-year journey, CAA has nurtured and brought together
many art masters with the greatest achievements in modern Chinese
art history, such as Lin Fengmian, Pan Tianshou, Huang Binhong, Liu
Kaiqu, Wu Dayu, Ni Yide, Fu Baoshi, Chang Shuhong, Li Keran, Dong Xiwen, Wu Guanzhong, Zao Wou-Ki, Zhu Dequn, Luo Gongliu, Li Zhenjian,
and Fang Zengxian. It has been known as a cradle of art masters in
China over the past century.
"CAA Century Masters" Creation and Research Project. In
2023, CAA formally unveiled its "CAA Century Masters" Creation and
Research Project that will run through its centenary in 2028. In
the past year, we held the "The Way Is Infinite: Centennial
Retrospective Exhibition of Zao
Wou-Ki", academic forums in commemoration of the 120th
anniversary of Mr. Lin Wenzheng's birth, the 120th anniversary of
Mr. Wu Dayu's birth and the 130th anniversary of Mr. Yan Wenliang's
birth, document exhibitions, and many other significant activities.
These exchanges and dialogues reviewed CAA's history and shared
insights on its present and where it is heading.
We erected statues of masters. By putting up the statues
that represent our enormous respect for our past generations and
our art aspirations, we integrated their legacies more deeply into
our campus elements while conveying the profound history and
culture of the Academy.
We held exhibitions and seminars in commemoration of
masters. Our exhibitions of masterpieces and precious documents
as well as in-depth academic symposiums presented masters' artistic
attainments and personal charm and amplified their artistic ideas
and spirits to promote art development in contemporary China.
We carried out social aesthetic education activities focused
on masters. Our lectures, workshops, art experiences and other
activities gave the public the chance to feel the positive impact
of art on their body and mind and appreciate the glamor of CAA over
the past century.
Launch of the "CAA Changjiang Delta Art Action" to explore
new models for high-quality development
CAA Changjiang Delta Art Action. CAA has deep connections
with Shanghai through academics
and historical legacies. On February 26,
1928, the third meeting of the Art Education Committee took
place at the National Conservatory of Music at 10922 Xiafei Road,
French Concession, Shanghai. The
meeting resolved to relocate the permanent venue of the Committee
to the National Academy of Art, and thus Shanghai became the key place of activities
and source of students of the academy. That marked the beginning of
a "Century Initiative" between CAA and Shanghai.
On December 27, 2023, CAA and the
Shanghai Municipal Government entered into a strategic cooperation
agreement in Shanghai, opening up
new opportunities for the co-creation and sharing of high-quality
resources for the integrated development of the Yangtze River
Delta.
DIU (Shanghai) Center
Initiative. On December 15, 2023,
the DIU (Shanghai) Center
Initiative between CAA and Yangpu District of Shanghai was formally launched. DIU
(Shanghai) Center aims to become
an innovative alliance integrating "art, science, business and
education".
Yangtze River Delta Cultural and Art Hub Initiative. In
2024, CAA will hold significant annual shows in Shanghai in collaboration with cultural and
art facilities in the city. Among them are (1) "Shanghai Youth
Technology Art Exhibition", an innovative exhibition that
integrates technology and art, to be mounted by the School of
Innovation & Design and the School of Intermedia Art of CAA;
(2) "CAA Chinese Painting Exhibition", the first national
tour exhibition to be held in November by the School of Chinese
Painting of CAA since its inception.
Yangtze River Delta Global Design and Creative Community
Initiative. CAA will join hands with Shanghai to revitalize industrial legacies,
historical districts and other spaces to create a world-class
creative community. The aims are to provide a maker space and idea
commercialization platform for young creators and alumni
entrepreneurs, foster the coordinated development of design and
creative industries, advanced manufacturing, modern services, and
strategic emerging industries, and boost the seamless production of
intellectual property and the digital asset right confirmation of
high-quality cultural content, films, TV shows, dramas, games,
animations, books, etc. as well as their industrial application in
the Yangtze River Delta.
Social Aesthetic Education Platform Initiative. In 2024,
CAA plans to launch multiple art communication bases in primary and
secondary schools and communities in Shanghai to offer general art knowledge
courses and offline art experience workshops to the public.
CAA Zhangjiang Campus Enhancement Initiative. Based on
its positioning as an "international cradle of innovation", the
campus will launch an array of interdisciplinary research
institutes and labs to explore new models and mechanisms for
international education cooperation.
Launch of Three Centers: A shared vision for the future of
art education
Photography Center of Better China Institution
In 2021, CAA established the Research Institute of Better China
Initiative, aimed at becoming a platform integrating an art think
tank, public aesthetics, and social innovation. Over the past three
years, the institute has created China's first database of Better China cases,
highlighting over 1,000 cases of outstanding cultural and artistic
contributors to the Better China Initiative. It has also
established a robust network of contributors and an
interdisciplinary, interdomain think tank, harboring philosophers,
scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, engineers, and civil servants.
By analyzing concrete practices, the institute has identified new
development models, such as urban and rural cooperation,
integration of four sectors, and collaboration across culture,
education, business, and tourism, providing creative energy for
cultural communication and the Better China Initiative.
Building upon these endeavors, the Photography Center of Better
China Institution was co-founded by People's Daily Online and CAA,
with the participation of Chinese photographers. This platform
gathers, summarizes, and generates visuals of Better China. Its
mission is to create historically, contemporarily, and
futuristically significant visuals of China, ultimately producing the Better China
Visuals Chronicle.
The center aspires to become a comprehensive and
multidimensional visuals database and visual release platform, with
plans to collect a million visuals from individual photographers
each year and gather visuals documenting the Chinese revolution and
social evolution around the world. These visual records will
showcase the progress of building a Better China, contribute to
urban and rural advances and revitalization, and highlight the
efforts of contributors and thinkers to document the past and
present of China.
CAA AI Center
As President Gao Shiming stated, "The core mission of art is to
discover the world and humanity." Artists' mission is to create,
cultivate, and unearth new human experiences, and create a world
filled with infinite possibilities.
The fast pace at which applied AI technology and tools are
self-improving has affected education, culture and artistic
creation drastically. What we should think about now is how
humanity evolves with the two forms of AI, that is, Artificial
Intelligence, and Artistic intelligence. As artificial intelligence
advances, we become increasingly in need of artistic intelligence.
Against this backdrop, CAA adopts new technology and embraces the
AI era. It established an AI center aimed at "driving artificial
intelligence with artistic intelligence and heralding the next era
of super artificial intelligence through art."
CAA AI Center integrates research across art, artificial
intelligence, engineering technology, and computer science,
utilizing artistic intelligence to connect and drive artificial
intelligence. The research on the two forms of AI means experiments
on multidimensional AIGC applications and the development of AI
education use cases. Beyond creating digital objects, the center
delves deeper by exploring digital subjects. These new digital
subjects will co-develop with both artificial intelligence and
artistic intelligence, gradually forming a composite "Human + AI"
entity capable of mastering and even surpassing algorithms.
Located in Beijing and
Hangzhou, the center will leverage
CAA's strengths to cultivate a national digital cultural and
creative community that integrates industries and education, while
working with globally renowned platforms like the Rouyuan Think
Tank Joint Research Office of the National Soft Power Center. CAA
AI Center, led by Prof. Chen
Yan, serves diverse purposes: academic experiments,
creation, and research, as well as industrial and societal
applications.
Research Center of Art-Synesthesia
The Research Center of Art-Synesthesia (RCAS) is the world's
first institution dedicated to synesthesia study from an artistic
and humanistic perspective. It aims to explore the consciousness of
the origin of art, pioneer combinations of senses and art across
disciplines, go beyond the physiological definition of synesthesia
in neuroscience, and expand the application of art-synesthesia in
the humanistic dimension. Viewing synesthesia as a bridge between
science and art, RCAS investigates how different senses interact
within classic artworks, to reach a pinnacle of art where "poetry
and paintings are intertwined" and "music is the ultimate
expression of art," ultimately reopening the path toward
cultivating well-rounded individuals.
Employing scientific methods, RCAS conducts interdisciplinary
research on topics such as vision, hearing, smell, taste,
consciousness, language, space, color, and psychology. These
efforts will connect domains like vision and music, poetry and
painting, color and tone, light and architecture, taste and
psychology, and fragrance studies and olfactory aesthetics.
Additionally, it is open to collaboration with academics. A global
multidisciplinary community dedicated to art-synesthesia research
has been established under partnerships with global prestigious
universities, such as Harvard,
Yale, the University of Vienna, and the University of Bristol, as well
as Chinese art schools, including the Central Conservatory of
Music, the Chinese National Academy of Arts, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Conservatory of
Music, Xinghai Conservatory of Music, and Zhejiang Conservatory of
Music.
In 2023, RCAS hosted China's
first-ever Synesthesia & Liberal Arts International Forum,
exploring the exciting intersection of cognitive neuroscience and
art. Prof. Fan Jingzhong, a renowned art historian and doctoral
supervisor at CAA, serves as the director of RCAS.
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SOURCE China Academy of Art