An artistic seal of approval

An exhibition highlights one of China's most recognizable art forms, Zhang Kun reports.

The China Art Academy is holding an exhibition of seals at the underground exhibition hall of the Expo Cultural Center. It showcases this intrinsic part of Chinese culture with seals dating back 3,000 years, along with more contemporary works.

The seals on display have been created by master craftsmen and artists throughout the ages. Emperors, high-level members of the court, government officials and bureaucrats stamped their personal seals on official documents. The seals acted as signatures.

The seals were first cast from metals such as bronze. From about the 13th century onwards, they were engraved into rocks and jade. The art of seal-making developed into an important and prominent part of Chinese art, alongside ink painting and calligraphy.

UNESCO last year recognized the Chinese seal, or zhuanke, as part of the country's intangible cultural heritage.

With the advent of stone and jade seals, seal-making became more popular. Because of the abundance of soft stones, this became the major material for carving seals.

Later, the art develops to distinctive styles. Artists such as Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi also carved their own seals, printing them on their ink paintings as an integral part of their works of art.

Artistic seals such as these were appreciated for their carving technique, presentation of Chinese characters, the rich meaning of the text, and the beauty of composition and structure.

Today, traditional Chinese seal patterns are widely seen in industrial designs and commercial logos. The most familiar is probably the logo for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which is a seal with the Chinese character Jing, which stands for Beijing.

At the opening of the exhibition on Aug 15, artists donated more than 100 paintings and calligraphy works to raise funds for victims of the mudslides in Zhouqu, Gansu province.

"Today happens to be the national mourning day for the mudslide victims in Zhouqu," Luo Fanfan, executive director of the China Seals School of the China Art Academy, said at the time.

"We decided to cancel the opening cocktail party and told artists only last night that we're recruiting artwork for the disaster-struck region."

"We were greatly moved to receive more than 100 paintings and calligraphy works, and we will go on recruiting artwork till the end of the month, when this exhibition finishes," she said.

The China Art Academy will hand over the donated artwork to the China Charity Foundation. They will likely be auctioned.

The exhibition continues until the end of August. It is open daily from 9 am to midnight.