Time to knock down walls to genuine creativity

In every culture, museums play a central role in stimulating the young population's interest in history, culture and the arts. A new museum in Shanghai, named after one of the founders of the China New Art Movement, Liu Haisu, is expected to do just that. Liu Haisu was a noted art educator, and the museum showcases paintings and calligraphy that are national treasures.

In an attempt to engage the budding art community, the museum invited students from the Fine Arts College at Shanghai University to paint a 300-meter long wall with graffiti.

Conceptually, it was an audacious idea. The monochromatic sharp angles of the building stand in contrast against the vibrant colors of the wall, with swathes of paint applied by the millennial-generation that could potentially challenge notions of a previous generation of original thinkers. It presented a unique opportunity for students to showcase their ideas, talent and originality!

I was disappointed to find out though that the artwork on the walls is all copied from the Internet, admittedly after obtaining permission from the original artists, whose names are painted next to their works.

Is this how art education should be imparted? Is this the most appropriate manner in which one should pay tribute to a great artist, and a movement that revolutionized art education in China? It may be acceptable for the copycat artists of Guangdong Province's Dafen village to copy, en masse, the paintings of European masters, destined for the living rooms of the nouveau riche; but this was a contemporary art project being sponsored by a new museum in one of the world's most dynamic cities.

In most parts of the world, graffiti serves as a form of protest. Artists can be fined heavily, and they often work under the cover of darkness, having just a few minutes to do their work and disappear before they are caught. Ironically, in some parts of China, graffiti is being encouraged as an urban art form.