Walls Within and Without: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy

Author: Guangdong Art Museum Editorial
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: Chinese calligraphy, an art with millennia of excellent tradition, has faced unprecedented challenges since the early 20th century. With the widespread use of Western hard-writing tools in China and the abolition of the imperial examination system, especially since the late 1970s, the surge of calligraphy enthusiasm brought about by mass calligraphy movements, the influence of various Western modern art trends since the opening-up of China, the establishment of calligraphy as a discipline in higher education institutions, and the construction of calligraphy studies have all contributed to the growing professionalization of contemporary calligraphers. These developments have also led to the contemporary Chinese calligraphy art gradually moving away from practicality and embracing a path of pure art.
Calligraphy is a cultural heritage with strong Chinese characteristics and rich information about Chinese civilization. Its development history and the current state of Chinese calligraphy have always been a focus of the Guangdong Art Museum. The exhibition "Inside and Outside the Wall" explores this topic from the perspective of the cultural and non-professional aspects of Chinese calligraphy in the contemporary context. Through this exhibition, it raises one key issue facing contemporary Chinese calligraphy and extends it to the dilemmas and awkward situations Chinese traditional culture is currently facing.