Time to knock down walls to genuine creativity

Modern Chinese graffiti is only a couple of decades old. Before the Beijing Olympics, several parts of the capital were opened up for artists to spray their designs on, even as the designs had to be approved first. Even a section of the Great Wall was declared as an authorized graffiti zone. Shanghai's art district on Moganshan Lu has served as a canvas, with foreign and domestic graffers (the popular name for graffiti artists) turning it into a vibrant neighborhood. They have the luxury of days, even weeks to finish their work.

With such encouragement and support, why would the students not explore original themes and come up with their own designs?

After all, they are at a stage in their lives when they should be forming their own identities, and there should be so many possibilities open to them.

Themes of urban living, digital life and contemporary culture such as cultural flux, migration and consumption can serve as inspiration for urban art, just as the murals by artist Shi Zheng and graffer Julien Malland had done in Shanghai a couple of years ago.

What is required is that the students be inspired through a creative process of negotiation between cultures — something Liu Haisu and his fellow artists represented, not a blind adoption or copying of role-model artists from the West.

This is the spirit of cross-cultural exchange that supports innovation and creative human energy. As urban centers in China evolve into cauldrons of creative activity, the dynamism of their young students will become the vehicles of transformation.

If China hopes to transform itself from the world's factory into the world's studio, academic institutions and museums will have to find ways to nurture and fire their imaginations, not merely hone their skills through imitation.

Kunal Sinha has over 25 years of experience commenting on consumer and cultural trends in China. The views are his own.