On March 9th and 13th, we held a very interesting and inspiring workshop around Chinese Fine Arts and guided our guests through the history, symbolism and philosophy of Chinese arts. The workshop took place at the renowned TEFAF exhibition in Maastricht. TEFAF is The European Fine Art Fair, the biggest fine fair in the world and every year this beautiful event attracts viewers from all over the world!
The speaker, miss Xinxin Wang, gradually guided the guests into the way of looking at Chinese art. She explained the holistic and analytic approach, and in doing so, the importance of context became clear. See, according to Chinese tradition, there is always a relationship and meaning to be found in works of art.
That context gets translated in many ways: what direction one is looking at, what they wear and what their demeanour is like, is how paintings signify the character and attitude of leaders; what elements of mother nature are depicted carry a symbolic meaning, such as a plum whose flowers blossom so early after winter, and therefor stands for perseverance; how religions intertwined from Laozi, Confucius and Buddha are a reoccurring influence on the message an artists means to convey, in terms of balance, social rules or harmony. When the canvas is brimming with nature, yet a house or tiny person is amidst it all, one can understand that bit of civilisation is in harmony with the world.
Apart from listening, the guests also indulged in creating art themselves. While just having analysed the emotions artists put into writing Chinese characters, they picked up their brush and started writing. Assisted by our lovely assistants: Jona and Tianzhao, they brought about wonderful writings of the character 永, meaning forever. In only fifteen minutes, their progress was already notable and the result ready to be brought home, together with a gift bag consisting of T-shirts and happy wishes.
The workshop was very immersive and it felt like taking a stroll through the highlights in the Chinese art history. The guests were able to get their hands on ancient artefacts and inspect it from up close. It was interesting to see how the wealth of the nation would cause shifts of focus in all art forms, from more simplistic designs to daring artistic expressions. Modern artists still use concepts of the past, such as use of white blanks to trigger the imagination, creating a fine line between visibility and invisibility. Then there was an introduction to Xu Bing’s Square Word Calligraphy, his way of bringing West and East together by writing English in the style of Chinese character calligraphy.
After the workshop, participants gathered for a guided tour to enjoy the beautiful master pieces at TEFAF. The most expensive work was showed for example, which was the 50 million euro piece from Vassily Kandisnsky. All the knowledge that was acquired could be applied to the works of artists seen at the fair.
We want to thank all the guests during the workshop for bringing such an amazing atmosphere and joining us on a journey through Chinese history and arts. Special thanks to Xinxin Wang for her wonderful storytelling and workshop and Regina for setting up this unforgettable workshop and tour behind the scenes.
These two days were filled with art, history, laughter, kindness, and inspiration. We are looking forward to hosting another magnificent event next year at TEFAF, are you coming too?
