By Wu Jin
Last year the Sichuan earthquake destroyed thousands of schools, houses and apartments in a matter of seconds. Escape was near-impossible and whole families and classrooms full of children were crushed under tons of concrete debris. Blood-stained and blanketed with dust, the province was left shrouded in deep grief.
A year later, a group of young artists are exhibiting their works in DAX, an art gallery on the third floor of a disused factory in the 798 Art Zone. The works aim to commemorate victims and console survivors.
The artworks, by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), are in various styles - realist, abstract, impressionist - and focus on the work of post-earthquake mourning and reconstruction. "The theme of the exhibition is 'commemoration and hope'," said Gao Shiyu, a CAFA student who was born in Sichuan. "We must move forward. The dawn after a pitch-black night is always beautiful," added Gao, who organized the exhibition.
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A soldier bows his head as he holds an injured child. The painting created by a group of young artists from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) has been exhibited to pay tribute to the dead and console the survivors. [China.org.cn]
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Black, grey and red scenes depict the moment when buildings were shaken to pieces and thousands of lives were lost. Silent, wrecked apartment blocks are shrouded by a cloud that has taken human form. Yet, symbolizing hope and rebirth, blood-soaked bamboo shoots force their way through stone cracks, and a soldier bows his head as he holds an injured child.
Children are the focus of much of the work. They are symbolized by dolls, toys and portrayed as fragile but blessed. The future is sketched in the bright hues of a childish doodle of a flower growing against a background of reconstruction.
"As spring comes, our thoughts turn once again to the cold underground," said Li Jun, a professor from CAFA. "But the power of art can raise the souls of the deceased to heaven. Their spirits will illuminate the stricken land."
The memorial exhibition will run till May 29 in building E03 in the 798 Art Zone, No.4 Jiuxianqiao Rd., Chaoyang District, Beijing.
