Artists share passion for the past
Updated: 2007-11-08 16:42
In his studio in Andingmen, in the east side of Beijing, Kuang takes a graphite pencil that's shaved to look like a screwdriver and draws broad strokes on the paper to create the wooden slats of a door. He is very precise with his work, never using an eraser. He alternatively uses a sharper pencil to create darker areas or add detail.
The other rooms in this place hold his treasures – his other large sketches of hutong under glass frames. One shows a wintry scene, with snow falling over the entrance way to a hutong, another a detailed drawing of a doorway entrance, another is of a side of a hutong alleyway, with people walking by. Each lively scene evokes the closeness and culture of hutong.
Kuang is originally from Jiangsu Province and came to Beijing over 20 years ago. His affinity for hutong began when he was young and lived in one for six years. As he sketched them he realized the profound culture the Chinese capital held.
"I used to live in Beixinqiao and I sketched the home of Liang Qichao [China's leading reformer in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)]. I didn't have the slightest idea he lived there until people told me. As a matter of fact, homes of celebrities are found everywhere in Beijing…. In this way stories are collected as time goes on, unconsciously in the beginning and then I became more and more aware of it."
At first Kuang tried to paint the hutong in watercolor. But he realized he couldn't capture the essence of hutong life with water and a brush. Also, the paint froze when he tried painting in the winter. He explains pencil best expresses the grayness of the hutong and gives him a signature style.
In the past 10 years, Kuang has made thousands of sketches of hutong, and has returned many times to the same spots, documenting the changes in the neighborhood.
Beijing's earliest hutongs date back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and when the New China was founded in 1949, there were some 6,000 of them. But because of the city's rapid development, thousands of them have been demolished to make way for new apartment buildings.
Kuang has a pained expression on his face when he talks about the fate of these age-old communities.
"It's a contradiction. When it comes to culture and history, we should keep them. But when it comes to city development, society is developing and we can't stop it. The people who live in hutong have a hard life because the living facilities aren't good. Many hutong I drew are now gone. Tall buildings replace them now."
He hopes his artwork is one way of preserving the hutong for future generations.
Joy Design products are available at all museum gift shops in Hong Kong and Beijing.
To view more of the collection, go to: www.xjoydesign.com
Related Video: The Past Preserved
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