Hezhe ethnic group folk painting

Author: Wang Yizhang, Huang Renyuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-08-01
Features: With the arrival of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Day, the first volume of the "Series of Studies on Ethnic Folk Art in the Heilongjiang River Basin," "Huzhe Folk Painting," is about to be printed. We are relieved and filled with mixed emotions. My first encounter with the paintings of Elder You Yonggui was in the summer of 1988, in the conference room of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Secretary-General Luan Wenhai of the Provincial Folk Arts Association invited me, then the Deputy Director of the Provincial Art Museum, to participate in a folk art selection organized by him. "A dazzling array" of paper-cutting, embroidery, root art, and peasant paintings filled the room, but nearly a hundred folk paintings depicting Huzhe life deeply captivated and moved me. The paintings depicted unique customs of winter hunting, fishing with spears, eating fish, wearing fishskin clothing, marriage customs, and funerals. The compositions were sturdy and spontaneous, sketched with pencils and colored with watercolors. The paintings were executed with one's heart and hands, seemingly without perspective, yet they possessed an intangible force that left a profound and unforgettable impression. As a friend once said: If you view his paintings individually, perhaps you won’t feel much, but when dozens of them are displayed together, the impact is incredibly strong. I had this very feeling back then, and it remains with me to this day. Upon learning more, I discovered that these works were collected by Luan Wenhai, Huang Renyuan, and Fengshou, at the invitation of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles, from the Jiajinkou Fishing Village, where they gathered nearly a hundred of Elder You’s Huzhe folk paintings. It was truly extraordinary and invaluable at the time! A monumental achievement.
Time flies. I encountered these paintings again thirteen years later, when the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles appointed me as Secretary-General of the Provincial Folk Arts Association, having transferred from the Provincial Art Museum in late 2001. In a corner of my office, I found a scroll wrapped in newspaper. Intrigued, I opened it and was stunned to see the nearly hundred Huzhe folk paintings. I exclaimed, "This is a national treasure! It must be preserved!" and immediately stored all the paintings in a safe. Later, I learned that Elder You had passed away in 1997 at the age of 86, making these paintings his final legacy! These precious and monumental works of art, left by the Huzhe elders with their hearts and dreams, trace the history, embody, uncover, and recreate the customs of the Huzhe people. They are a "living fossil" of the Huzhe ethnic group’s historical image, irreplaceable in written history. They transcend history, compensating for the inability of photography to replicate the essence of Huzhe life. Today, seeing them again fills me with an invisible sense of responsibility! It must step out of the folk realm and enter the of art, to be given its historical place, and to be displayed to the public.
With the launch and expansion of the national campaign to rescue and protect intangible cultural heritage, the growing emphasis on and exploration of intangible cultural heritage, "Huzhe Folk Painting" has been showcased multiple times at events such as the "Harbin Fair," the "Winter Cultural and Art Festival of Folk Art Treasures," and the "National Art Fair," drawing attention and excitement from the art, media, and cultural communities. How to integrate and plan diverse, stylistically different folk arts into a cohesive yet distinctive whole has been a recurring question for me in recent years. When the first volume of the "Series of Studies on Shamanic Culture of Northern Ethnic Groups in the Heilongjiang River Basin," "Manchu Shamanic Mythology," was published and became one of the key achievements of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Rescue Project, displayed in the Great Hall of the People, a new plan took shape in my mind.
At a gathering with friends in the art world, Vice President Xu Xiaoli of the Provincial Fine Arts Publishing House showed great enthusiasm for my new field of research: "Huzhe Folk Painting," "Jinyuan Brick Art," "Fishskin Cultural Art," "Birch Bark Cultural Art," "Shamanic Artifacts Research," "Manchu Paper-Cutting Family," "Black Art Exploration," "Jin Dynasty Carving Lore," "Northern Folk Shadow Play," and "Ethnic Costume Art"—the "Series of Studies on Ethnic Folk Art in the Heilongjiang River Basin." Through our joint planning and Xiaoli’s active efforts to promote the publication, the series was listed as a key project by the Heilongjiang Provincial Publishing and Media Group in 2005 and received strong support from the Provincial Propaganda Department and the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
Folk crafts are practical, while cultural series are research-oriented. Our goal is to allow these two to learn from each other and complement one another. I am deeply grateful to Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Folk Arts Association, Bai Gengsheng, for taking the time to write the preface for the series. The publication of this book was made possible by the strong support and assistance of leaders and friends from the Provincial Propaganda Department, Provincial Press and Publication Bureau, Provincial Publishing and Media Group, Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Provincial Fine Arts Publishing House. With everyone’s dedicated efforts, the book’s format, design, and content have been brought to completion. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all of them.
It is a source of great satisfaction that we have done something concrete to rescue and protect China’s intangible cultural heritage. As this volume goes to print, the second volume, "Jinyuan Brick Art," has also been completed and will be published simultaneously—a joyous and significant event for the folk arts community! The journey ahead is long and arduous.