Qijiang farmers’ journey into creative fields
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Qijiang Farmers’ Printmaking, an intangible cultural heritage of Chongqing, has been spiritually and financially enriching the lives of thousands of residents in the city’s Qijiang district for decades. Now, through collaborative efforts among the art’s inheritors, artists and the local government, it is empowering rural revitalisation.
Qijiang Farmers’ Printmaking originated from woodblock New Year prints and murals during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and thrived in the 1980s. Since 1985, the local printmaking artworks have been exhibited in more than 40 countries and regions, including the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany. Over 60 foreign art groups and individuals have visited local art studios, according to a local official.
“Back in the 1980s, my folks would never have imagined a poor rural girl like me would later find a decent job and turn into an artist,” says 59-year-old Li Chengzhi, a national first-grade artist and a representative inheritor of the cultural heritage.
Li was introduced to the art at 17, when folk paintings started to flourish across the country in the early 1980s. Li Yili, a passionate artist who was in charge of the Qijiang Cultural Centre, wanted to enrich the cultural lives of local farmers. He mobilised local artists to establish over 20 rural cultural stations that offer free printmaking classes in some 10 Qijiang’s townships such as Dongxi, Ganshui and Zuantang.
The teenage girl, who had never taken a painting class and had to do farm work all year round but could hardly make ends meet, showed keen interest in printmaking. Two years later, she became one of the first of over 300 locally trained farmer creators.
“I had only seen local people paintings on rocks before, while this emerging art form had suddenly made our lives more colourful and vibrant,” says Li Chengzhi.
Art comes from life. Li Chengzhi’s bright, colourful hues and unconstrained style on themes like farming, children, joyful festival celebrations and local legends, soon became popular.
In 1992, a customer’s order to make children’s prints for an elementary school earned her the first reward of 25 yuan (£2.72).
“At that time, to be able to earn this money was something a farmer wouldn’t even dare to dream of.”
Then Li Chengzhi got a job in the local farmers’ printmaking institute the same year. She got married and relocated to town, actively contributing to the preservation and development of the intangible cultural heritage.
Her sheer passion for art has made her highly productive — creating more than 200 printmaking artworks and thousands of hand-drawn illustrations by far.
“Their creations manifest their yearning for a better life,” says director of Qijiang Farmers’ Printmaking Institute Liu Yue, adding that the works, which usually draw inspiration from daily life of local people and also wild imaginations, present a distinctive, exaggerated, romantic and pure artistic style.
“Growing crops is hard work, and so is printmaking,” says 45-year-old Liu Qinfo, a farmer in Dongxi township who used to work in the farm all year round and run a small bookstore in his local community. “But the latter one has offered me a brand-new livelihood with brain work.”
Liu Qinfo says now he could normally earn several hundred yuan during each short peak tourist season such as the Spring Festival, May Day and National Day holidays through offering tourists printmaking experience and selling printmaking souvenirs.
According to Liu Yue, Qijiang Farmers’ Printmaking has been included in this year’s annual international cultural exchange programme by the local government, and she and her team is scheduling an art exhibition in Tanzania between September and November.