Guests visit the exhibition
Since March 30th, three major themed activities, namely the opening ceremony of the "Collection of CAFA Art Museum", the Cultural Engine —— The Summit Forum of the International Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the Conference of the Alliance of Art Museums in National Colleges and Universities, have been successively launched. This marks the official start of CAFAM academic series.
On the morning, the "Collection of CAFA Art Museum" took the lead in opening. After more than a year of preparation and implementation, the exhibition has carefully selected more than 500 outstanding works from the more than 20,000 pieces of artworks collected in CAFA Art Museum. It has meticulously presented two distinctive thematic sections, namely "Ancient Chinese Art" and "Modern Chinese Fine Arts". This exhibition is not only a vivid portrayal of the long and magnificent art history but also an important resource for the teaching practice of the academy. It carries the academic accumulation of the century-old Academy of Fine Arts, where art serves the people, and witnesses the arduous development process of Chinese art education.
The opening ceremony site
When more than 500 pieces of collections with the "characteristics of the Academy of Fine Arts" are gathered on a large scale in the way of "time folding", the artistic soul of the Academy of Fine Arts has never been so vivid. There are "artifacts" and "calligraphy and paintings" spanning a time span of two thousand years; and the century-long development context of plastic arts such as oil paintings, Chinese paintings, woodblock prints, and sculptures from 1900 to 2000. Each piece of work is a dynamic "atlas of artistic methodology".
The exhibition of collections of CAFA Art Museum -- the sections of "Ancient Chinese Art" and "Modern Chinese Fine Arts" will be on long-term display. Viewers who are interested can go to the exhibition site to visit.
Honorary Chairman of the China Artists Association and Former President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Mr. Jin Shangyi
In most large art museums around the world, there are fixed exhibitions open to the public. These fixed exhibitions have outstanding value and significance for cultural undertakings and cultural activities, and they represent the basic function of an art museum. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, art museums mainly focused on temporary exhibitions, and their functions were more similar to those of exhibition halls. Now, the Central Academy of Fine Arts has started to display its high-quality collected works as fixed exhibitions. This is an important measure for the transformation towards a modern art museum, and it is also an important cultural activity for the people. It is hoped that the Central Academy of Fine Arts will continue to adhere to this practice.
A member of the Party Leadership Group, Vice Chairman, and Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles
Zhu Di
combining his work experience at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, stated that the preparation and exhibition of the collections of the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts are important measures for the work of art museums in the new era. He also extended his congratulations on the opening of the exhibition.
Deputy Director General of the Department of Art of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism
He Yawen
The collection exhibition is not only a systematic and concentrated display of the art collections of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Moreover, with the unique positioning of a university art museum, it provides a typical case for new approaches to cultural inheritance, the popularization of aesthetic education, and international art dialogue. It continuously builds a bridge for the public to understand the development context of art, and also offers a long-term research platform for artists and scholars. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has also included "strengthening the protection and utilization of art collections" in its key tasks. It is hoped that through support policies and organizational mobilization, it can assist art museums in improving their professional capabilities in the protection, restoration, and research of collections, and provide a solid guarantee for the sustainable development of art museums.
Dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Lin Mao
The history of the collection of the Central Academy of Fine Arts is a condensed history of the development of modern Chinese art education, highlighting the fine tradition of "promoting teaching through collection and inheriting the cultural context through the preservation of collections". It is not only a reflection on history, but also a reinterpretation of the contemporary value of art collections. In the future, the school will always adhere to the dual mission of being "the pioneer of Chinese art education" and "the leader of academic research", and carry out contemporary practices of "digitally revitalizing the collections". The CAFA art museum will also establish a mechanism for revitalizing the collections with the integration of "technology empowerment + academic guidance" in the field of collection protection. At the level of public education, it will accelerate the construction of a digital art museum and promote the social sharing of high-quality resources. From the perspective of international communication, it will deepen the research on mutual learning among civilizations and systematically present the academic achievements of Chinese art education. The school will persist in making pioneering innovations while safeguarding the root of art, and serve society in the process of deepening aesthetic education practices, continuously painting a magnificent picture of art education in the new era.
James Rondeau, President and Director of the Art Institute of Chicago
Wang Tao, Pritzker Chair of Asian Art and Senior Curator of Chinese Art at the Art Institute of Chicago
As one of the earliest art institutions in the United States, the Art Institute of Chicago adheres to the purpose of aesthetic education. It not only showcases collections with historical and artistic value from the perspective of an art museum but also provides a platform for artistic creation and academic exchanges from the perspective of an "academy". Relying on its rich collections and academic resources, the CAFA Art Museum is echoing the development of the world and exerting an influence on promoting the exchange and development of the global art cause. It is hoped that representatives from major art museums and art institutions at home and abroad can have in-depth exchanges during this academic season and work together to push the development of art museums to a new platform.
Director of Hubei Art Museum
Ji Shaofeng
The permanent exhibition is the cornerstone of an art museum, and it also serves as a concentrated manifestation of the museum's characteristics and academic standards. The permanent exhibition of Hubei Art Museum, "A Century of Horizons and Depths: An Exhibition of Hubei Art Documents in the 20th Century", represents a crucial step in the museum's transformation from an art exhibition hall to an art museum. It is hoped that the Hubei Art Museum and the CAFA Art Museum will move forward hand in hand, jointly promoting high-quality collection, high-level utilization, and high-quality service in art museums. May art museums become intellectual arenas that inspire creativity and bridge the past and the future, and also become important places where people in the new era can appreciate outstanding artworks and enhance their cultural literacy.
The expert advisor for the exhibition and a professor at the School of Arts, Peking University
Zheng Yan
This permanent exhibition showcases the "characteristics of the Academy of Fine Arts": The creative practices of artists, facing the era and the future, are always deeply rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture. Meanwhile, the new propositions and concepts of contemporary art constantly inspire art historians to rediscover and reconstruct our art traditions in a deeper and broader way. It is hoped that the students of the Academy of Fine Arts will visit the art museum and draw inspiration from the flowing brushstrokes of landscape paintings and the gentle luster of porcelain glazes that have endured for thousands of years, allowing the spark of traditional art to ignite the passion for innovation. One day in the future, they will donate their excellent graduation works to the art museum, enabling the "new paintings" to stand side by side with the ancient and contemporary classics, emitting new radiance.
Chief Curator and Director of CAFA Art Museum
Jin Jun
As one of the first batch of national key art museums, CAFA Art Museum comprehensively presents the development of Chinese art to the public for the first time. The museum always takes the research and exhibition of its collections as the core of its work. Using the display of its collections as a clue, it showcases the artistic development path from traditional classics to innovative media. At the same time, through digital interactive art, artificial intelligence, dynamic immersion, simulated restoration, etc., it "revitalizes" the collections, making the history of Chinese art visible and tangible. This is a tribute to history, an inheritance of traditional classics, and also an expectation for the future of art. It is hoped that it can become an artistic bridge connecting the past and the present, a space that stimulates the collision of ideas, and a model for the development of China's art museum undertakings in the future.
Yu Yang, Director of the Scientific Research Office of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Preside over the opening ceremony
exhibition site
It is worth mentioning that the special opening event - the first exhibition of the authentic work of the Song Dynasty painting "Magpie and Loquat" has also attracted the attention of a large number of audiences. This work depicts the scene of loquats just ripening and birds perching with exquisite craftsmanship and profound artistic conception.
After the opening ceremony, an important part of the 2025 CAFAM Academic Series, the "Cultural Engine —— 2025 International Art Museum Summit Forum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts", was launched at the CAFA Art Museum. With the theme of "Cultural Engine", this summit forum hopes to focus on three major topics: "Diverse Curating and Knowledge Renewal", "Regional Dialogue and Global Collaboration", and "Technology Empowerment and Innovation Strategies", and discuss the development opportunities and challenges of art museums in the new era. More wonderful content of the forum will be pushed out in the follow-up. Please stay tuned.
Keynote Speech: Art Museum as a Cultural Engine
Pan Yikui from the National Art Museum of China | Cultural Collaboration in the International Exhibitions of the National Art Museum of China
MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Italy, Francesco Stocchi | MAXXI, A Dynamic Museum
Guangdong Art Museum, Wang Shaoqiang | Building on the Past and Opening up the Future: The Construction of Art Museums in the New Era and Urban Development
Art Museum of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai University and China Art Museum, Ma Lin | The Cross-border Integration and Academic Innovation of Art Museums in the New Era
Art Museum of Seoul National University, Shim Sangyong | Muein —— The Concave Lens in My Heart
CAFA Art Museum, Jin Jun | In the Post-digital Era, the Integration of Virtual and Real and Symbiotic Development of Art Museums
Host of This Session | Gao Gao (CAFA Art Museum)
Topic 1: Diverse Curatorial Practices and Knowledge Renewal
Art Museum of Tsinghua University, Du Pengfei | Emerging with the Passage of Time and Flourishing Continuously: The Diverse Curatorial Concepts and Practices of the Art Museum of Tsinghua University
National Gallery Singapore, Hsin You-Jen | Comparison as a Method: Decolonized Art History in the Global South, Critical Restoration, and Issues of Representation
Art Museum of Beijing Painting Academy, Wu Hongliang | Empathetic Field and Secondary Dissemination —— New Reflections in Curatorial Practices
Taikang Art Museum, Tang Xin | Striving to Become a "Professional and Friendly" Art Museum
Wuhan Art Museum, Chen Yongjin | Original Creation Power and Innovation Power —— The Updating Code of Wuhan Art Museum
Intermediation Art Museum, Lu Yinghua | Slow Laboratory —— Talking from the Practices of Intermediation Art Museum
Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Li Feng | Curating to Bridge the Ancient and the Modern —— Discussing Exhibition Curation and Museum Innovation with the Example of "The Ringing of Camel Bells: A Grand Exhibition of Silk Road Art"
Host of This Session | Wang Huangsheng (Research Center for Art Museum Studies, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts)
Topic 2: Regional Dialogues and Global Collaboration
Museum of Contemporary Art of Lyon, Isabelle Bertolotti | Carrying out Local and International Cross-cultural Collaborations at MacLYON
Hunan Art Museum, Tian Shaodeng | Regional Leadership and Multiple Practices: The Innovative Development Path of Hunan Art Museum
A4 Art Museum in Chengdu, Sun Li | The Art Museum as a Practitioner of Dynamic Connections
The National Art Center, Tokyo, Yukie Kamiya | Artistic Exploration as a Catalyst Connecting Local History and the World: Case Studies of Hiroshima and New York
Art Museum of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Chen Xiaoyang | The Oceanic Turn in Curatorial Research: South China and Southeast Asian Contemporary Art as Neighbors
Chengdu Art Museum, Xiao Feige | From Exhibition Venue to Magnetic Field: The Construction of Urban Cultural Attraction by International Art Projects
Host of This Session | Ji Shaofeng (Hubei Art Museum)
Topic 3: Empowerment by Technology and Innovation Strategies
Guan Shanyue Art Museum in Shenzhen, Chen Junyu | Systematic Innovation: Exploration of the Guan Shanyue Research Model for the Professional Construction of Art Museums
Ars Electronica Linz, Crystal Bauer | From Bystander to Co-creator —— The Participatory and Media Practices of the Ars Electronica Center Linz
Zhejiang Art Museum, Ying Jinfei | Aesthetics Is the Primary Productivity in the Digital Age
Jiangsu Art Museum, Wang Fa | Innovative Practices of Art Museums Empowered by Digital and Intelligent Technologies
Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, Yan Weixin | Practices of Reconstructing the Publicness of Art Museums Driven by Data: Taking the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning as an Example
Shaanxi Provincial Art Museum, Wang Xiao | Reconstructing Tradition through Innovation and Empowering the Future with Technology —— Practical Strategies of Shaanxi Provincial Art Museum
China Academy of Art, China International Design Museum, Zhang Chunyan | Curating and Knowledge Production in Art Museums in the Era of Artificial Intelligence
Host of This Session | Hai Jun (Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts)
Closing Remarks of the Forum
Closing Remarks | Han Wenchao (Art Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts)
Cultural Engine ——CAFAM Academic Series
and the Opening of the Exhibition of the Collection of CAFA Art Museum
General Consultants: Xu Yang, Lin Mao
Chief Planner: Jin Jun
Project Director: Han Wenchao
Project Coordinators: Gao Gao, Hai Jun
Project Supervisor: Wang Jing
Design Director: Ji Yujie
Execution Team: Liu Xiyan, Yi Yue, Wang Ruobing, Li Jie, Hu Xiaolan, Jiang Siyu, Li Yaochen, Sun Wei, He Yisha, Xiao Baozhen, Yang Liu, Yue Junyao, Wang Jun, Zhang Qian, He Yifei, Ding Yi, Wu Jing, Du Yinzhu, Chen Xiaohua, Guo Xu, Dou Tianwei, Cui Ranran, Wang Chunling, Ma Liang, Li Wei, Mei Qi, Su Shicun, Jing Peng, Yi Yi, Jin Jianru, Kou Lei, Men Jing, Geng Jinghua, Yao Yiqun, Liang Wen, Chang Yuqing, Lang Can
Design Team: Min Zhiyi, Liu Yuhan, Chen Jiayi, Zhao Xinxin, Zhu Chonglin, Liu Xinhang
Volunteer Team: Feng Kaiziqi, Xu Yilin, Li Shuyu, Xu Xi, Yang Yechen, Wang Nianyi, Chen Tianyi, Hou Xintong, Jiang Zihan, Piao Yanjing, Ren Ziyi, Wu Youxia, Chen Xinran, Xie Tao, Guo Zeyi, Ni Wuyue, Zhang Leshan, Zeng Xiaoyu, Xu Zihan, Lin Guanghan, Sheng Yuxuan, Zhang Chenkai, Yang Huiling, He Shengjing, Zhao Yitang, Fang Jinhang, Cao Yuchen, Wang Ruoxi, Zhang Xiaojie, Peng Xiyun, Zheng Zhixi, Yang Qingyan, He Lewei, Li Ze, Yu Yuxin, Li Qiang
Thanks: Lu Yingying, Zhang Hanyu, Chen Zihan
Editor-in-Chief / He Yisha
Editor / Du Yinzhu
