Advancing Arts

　　A single village of 300 residents in southChina produces half of the world’s oil paintings. Thismay sound unlikely, but is the product of decades ofwork. Dafen, a small village with few Western art influencesand no educational art institute, is now one ofthe world’s leading producers of oil paintings.

　　During the First Roundtable on China and AfricaCultural Industries held in June of this year, over 20officials from the cultural departments of Africangovernments paid a visit to Dafen Village in Shenzhen,Guangdong Province.

　　Shenzhen is a young city with a history that onlyspans a few decades. In 1980, a year after the citywas founded, the Chinese Government establishedthe country’s first special economic zone in Shenzhen,promoting the city to adopt economic reformsand open up to the outside world. Since then, fasteconomic growth has made Shenzhen renownedaround China and the world. In 2008, UNESCO namedShenzhen a City of Design for its well-developedcultural and creative industries, of which Dafen Villageis a big part.

　　Louise Graham is the director of the South AfricanMinistry of Art and Culture’s Department of InternationalRelations. While visiting Dafen, she saw a worldof art. Oil paintings are displayed from floor to ceilingand in the windows of every shop along both sidesof each road. “The man who came up with the idea[to group all of these shops and galleries together] is agenius,” she said.

　　The man who created this is Huang Jiang, a HongKong art dealer and one of the ambitious businessmenattracted to Shenzhen in 1989 by the Central Government’spreferential policies and the city’s cheaplabor force. Huang chose to set up his businessin Dafen because of its low rent prices and advantageouslocation. He brought a dozen oilpainters with him and rented a private house.

　　This became a base for the manufacture andoverseas trading of commercial oil paintings.

　　As the first painting dealer tosetup shop in the village, Huang later cameto be known as the “Creator of Dafen OilPainting Village.”

　　News spread and painters gathered,including art school graduates and professionalartists who hoped to find workand use their artistic talents to make aliving in the dynamic city. Some workedfor a production company while others painted forcommissions.

　　Dafen’s art industry was initially based on commercialoil painting, especially cheap, well-executedreplicas of famous Western masterpieces. Many ofthem were shipped to Europe and the United States.The village’s first oil painting market was establishedin 1999. Around 2005, 70 percent of oil paintingsin the Western market were produced in China, 80percent of which were made in Dafen Village. Dafen’spainters have allowed many Western families toown art masterpieces for affordable prices.

　　No longer a small village, Dafen Oil Painting Villagenow covers an area of 4 square km, is the site of morethan 1,100 replica galleries, and employs more than6,000 painters. It’s a driving force in the developmentof China’s cultural industries.

　　Being creative

　　For a decade, Dafen developed freely without anygovernment involvement. But in 1998, Dafen beganto experience problems related to its environmentalconditions, transportation facilities and rental propertymarket. Noticing its potential as a cultural productionbase, the local government invested a lot inthe town’s facilities and environmental improvement.

　　In 2004, the local government set up amanagement office for Dafen Oil Painting Village.

　　“We offer help but do not get involvedin business operations,” said He Caiping, adirector at the management office.

　　According to He, the local governmentrents out cheap apartments to helporiginal artists settle in the area. Artists arealso encouraged to protect their originalworks through copyrighting, which can bedone by paying a low registration fee.

　　This is a part of the city’s effort tomake sure that it is known for more than being acenter for mass-producing copies of masterpieces.

　　This shift away from the village’s original claim to fameseemed necessary after its overseas business sufferedduring the global economic slowdown in 2008.

　　“Although the outside world stillconsiders Dafen to just be a replicafactory, we do have a lot of talentedartists here,” He said.

　　Dafen’s artists are still misunderstoodby the outside world, butthe village as a whole is workingto change how it is perceived. TheDafen art museum, the largest suchmuseum in Shenzhen, was built inthe village in 2007 to be a platformfor art exhibitions and exchange.In 2010, the Dafen Lisa, a hugeart piece created by 507 Dafenpainters, impressed visitors fromall around world at the ShanghaiWorld Expo. Only a few months later,the village hosted the first Dafen OilPainting Art Festival.

　　Today, there are 200 artists in Dafen focusing onproducing original art works in their own studios. “It’snot a big number, but they are having an impact andenhancing artistic creativity in Dafen Village,” said He.

　　Except for replicas, one can also purchase originalpaintings, calligraphy, sculptures, arts and crafts andeven supplies in the various shops located throughoutthe village.

　　These businesses have helped the villagers get richand create a lot of opportunities for those coming tothe village to work. He believes that continued marketdemand for replicas is a positive thing for the village,and that Dafen should continue to produce replicaswhile also growing its production of originalpaintings.

　　There’s also a blue print for Dafen’s future, accordingto He. The village will be developed into an evenlarger industrial center covering five times as muchland as it does at present. At the same time, factorieslocated outside the village will get involved, andthe village will grow its tourism and entertainmentsectors.

　　By Zheng Yang