Pioneers of art
Extraordinary group, the youngest 70, exhibit the heroic struggle to make Xinjiang flourish as well as its natural beauty, Xing Wen reports.
An ongoing online exhibition featuring 200 paintings, woodcut prints, paper-cut pieces and copperplate etchings allows viewers to see, as if through the eyes of the artist, the natural wonders and folk customs of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
It is worth mentioning that the exhibits are created exclusively by artists aged 70 or above, with the oldest being a sprightly 94.
This group are the witnesses of how art thrives in Xinjiang. Their works, which keep abreast of the times, pay homage to labor heroes and chronicle the everyday lives of Xinjiang dwellers from different ethnic groups. The works display a truthfulness that bears an important academic value, allowing the study of the development trajectory of the region's arts sector, according to the editor's notes on the online exhibition.
After the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, groups of young enthusiasts, including scholars, soldiers and technicians from other cities and provinces traveled to the country's far west, throwing themselves into developing Xinjiang.
