Institute promoting Chaoshan art finally realized after decades

An institute dedicated to promoting the art and cultural heritage of the Chaoshan region in Guangdong province was established in Shantou on Oct 30, realizing a proposal first put forward by artist Liu Haisu (1896-1994) more than four decades ago.

In 1982, Liu proposed setting up a regional art school in Shantou to encourage local artists to create works rooted in the area's cultural traditions. Although veteran artists, including Xie Haiyan and Huang Dufeng, continued to call for closer cooperation among artists in the region, the proposal remained unrealized for decades. Through the efforts of Feng Shaoxie, vice-chairman of the Guangdong Artists Association, it was finally realized this year.

The newly established Chaoshan Painting Research Institute will bring together artistic resources from Shantou, Chaozhou, Jieyang, and Shanwei, and support art research, exhibitions and exchanges with artists overseas.

Representatives from the four cities and overseas Chaoshan communities, including those in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, and Malaysia, attended the founding ceremony, where the institute's plaque was unveiled. The institute also submitted an application to join the International Teochew Federation. The application was presented in an envelope shaped like a red sailboat, a traditional symbol of the region's seafaring history and overseas migration.

"We are living in the AI era. To use the standards of a bygone age to address artistic questions of the information age is like using an abacus to run big data — it's not that the abacus is bad, it's that it belongs to the wrong era. Yet the medium, expression and dissemination of art continue to evolve," Feng said.

Feng added the institute would not be defined by a particular painting style, medium or artistic lineage, but by a shared connection to Chaoshan culture and its values. Artists working in different forms, including traditional Chinese painting, oil painting and printmaking, would all be welcome to contribute, he said.