Fifth International Paper-Cut Art Festival (Jintan, China) Held

Paper-cut， a popular form of folk art， has a long history in China and is now on the national intangible cultural heritage list. As its name implies， various patterns are cut out of pieces of paper by artists with scissors or carving knives. The colorful works cover a wide range of subjects and have rich implications. Auspicious patterns are used to express good luck and to avoid evil spirits. Patterns such as chubby girls and boys， calabash and lotus flowers carry the meaning of more children， more happiness. Subjects like poultry， domestic animals， melon， fruit， fish and insect closely related to people’s daily life are also important contents. Apart from being used as window decorations， paper-cut is also used as embroidery design and to decorate gift wrappings. It is a practical folk art.

According to archaeological findings， paper-cut， dating back to the Northern Dynasties (386-581 CE)， has a history of at least 1，500 years. The art then was quite mature but became increasingly trendy in the following Sui and Tang dynasties. There were Tang Dynasty poems describing women’s elegance in making paper-cuts and the beautiful patterns of flowers， birds， grass and insects they produced. In the Song Dynasty， paper-cutting became a trade and various top artists made a name for themselves. The art was very popular in the Yuan Dynasty and reached its peak in the following Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Paper-cut in Jintan City of Jiangsu Province is well known in the country and holds the title of “Home of China’s Folk Art (paper-cut using carving knives)”. As one of the two ways of making paper-cut， carving with knives is especially practiced in Jintan.

At the Fifth International Paper-cut Festival held in Jintan at the end of last September， more than 300 paper-cut works were displayed in the three major exhibition areas—Jintan Museum， Ancient Dwellings and Nanzhou Park. They were selected from over 1，800 pieces by artists from all parts of China including Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan as well as from the U.S.， Germany， Denmark， Switzerland， Poland， Japan， the Republic of Korea， Mexico and Israel. These exquisite exhibits varied in size with big ones having a length of 100m， while the small ones were only the size of a stamp. They reflected artists’ understanding of the times and their persistent pursuit for art and covered many aspects of life. These works showed a perfect combination of concept with art and represented the actual creative strength and level of contemporary paper-cut art. Most of the exhibits by Chinese artists were about life in the countryside. They vividly depicted life and customs of people in different places， their love of life and their wish for improvement. There were also works on modern subjects， of which a round piece， one metre in diameter reflecting the unity of the 56 ethnic groups in China， drew a large number of visitors. It was created by Yang Zhaoqun， a Jintan artist， especially for the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. From Athens to Beijing， a 29m-long and 2.008m-high exhibit in the form of a scroll， were created on the inspiration from the successful bidding by Beijing to host the 29th Olympic Games in 2008. The artist expressed his joy over Beijing’s successful bid and his support for the Olympics. In order to make this piece， he went on a study tour to Athens and Barcelona and organized a five-person group to work on it. This piece is now in the collection of the National Museum of China.

On the opening day of the Festival， the main venue， where boards with exhibits were placed everywhere for people to see， was full of the noise of groupsjoyfully beating drums and gongs and performing yangge， lion dance and other traditional folk cultural items for visitors from overseas. A fashion show with paper-cut elements given by woman students from Nanjing University drew many visitors and the media to take pictures.

In coordination of the 60th anniversary of the PRC’s founding， the Organizing Committee of the Festival published three books Paper-cut Masterpieces in China in the Past 60 Years， Studies on Paper-cut in China in 60 Years and An Album of the Best International Paper-cuts which were presented to all the participants as gifts. Representative works of China’ 100 most influential paper-cut artists in the past 60 years， academic papers on the art of paper-cutting and the prize-winning works of the previous four festivals are included in these books.

The Festival was the fifth annual event that began in 2004 and held successively in Nanjing， Hohhot， Datong and Yinchuan. It has become a platform of international exchanges for people engaged in paper-cutting and helps promote a flourish paper-cut craft and raise the level of its appreciation. During the Festival， an international forum on “Scientific Protection and Development of the Paper-cut Art” and an award ceremony for excellent works were held. Paper-cut artists of various styles and scholars from home and abroad gathered in Jintan， talking about their understanding and study of the paper-cut art and expressing their wish to further develop this form of folk art.