I went to the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) today with my camcorder, a notepad, and high hopes. CAFA is the biggest and most government-funded arts university in China and I couldn’t wait to see what high profile teachers and passionate art students would have to say about the current art climate and their experiences at their well-known school.
Luckily my first interviewees at Tsinghua University’s Art School had friends studying painting at CAFA so I had an interview with a current senior in the undergraduate program. The first thing I noticed as I arrived at CAFA was the wide campus and the large modern sculptures decorating the manicured lawns. Before the interview my interviewee, Rui, showed me around the final undergraduate Chinese painting exhibition. Believe it or not, the detail of the Gustav Klimt-like painting above is from the show. I was blown away by the wide variety that Chinese painting encompasses and learned from Rui that she believed the most successful Chinese paintings used Western style painting techniques to express Chinese thought. Interesting. Her interview was pretty interesting too since unlike most Chinese parents (or all parents), her parents want her to become a professional artist.
Later though I found the undergrad and graduate level oil painting studios which were endlessly fascinating. My interpreter and I found several with at least 15 easels in each, with first year students painting from live models. And for the record, all of the paintings were spectacular. The graduate students were of course great painters too, but extremely mature and full of great insights. While I don’t want to bore you with the many anecdotes I picked up, one particularly insightful quote is the following: “Just like doctors heal their sick patients, the role of the artist is to document what’s happening in the community, to show people what’s wrong so that the art can heal and be a catalyst.” I was completely inspired.
Despite how exhausted I am now, I’m really excited about how the day went. Well, we’re about to go to dinner now. That’s all for now! Thanks for reading 
-Miyuki