FAC International Children’s Painting Competition Press and “Future • Here I Am --- International Children’s Aesthetic Education Summit” is held in Beijing.
On Jun. 12,FAC (Future Art China) International Children’s Painting Competition (hereinafter referred to as FAC), jointly sponsored by Organization Committee of FAC International Children’s Painting Competition and China Children and Teenagers’ Fund, supported by ICAA, organized by JIMEI Holding Group of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and Beijing Zhonghuimei Cultural Development Institute and jointly launched by some famous art colleges and institutes at home and abroad, was started up in Beijing 798 Art District. Meanwhile, the first “Future•Here I Am --- International Children’s Aesthetic Education Summit Forum” was held at the same time.
It is known that FAC sign-up was started from Jun. 12 to Aug. 10. Being as a cooperative activity and the display platform for “Fantastic Art China” New York series activities organized by CAFA(Central Academy of Fine Arts) and under the great support of ICAA, CAFA Children’s Art Education Office,Education Promotion Center of CAFA Urban Design School, is a high-level and large-scaled competition about children’s art, which has seldom happened in China in recent years.
Proposition of public welfare: as long as you have talent and passion, and you dare to express yourself
In order to popularize the elementary education of children’s aesthetics, FAC, taking into account of public welfare, will provide a free competition for all participants so that they can do the sign-up and participation for free, hoping that all children can attend this competition and provide a non-difference stage for children to show themselves. In addition, irregularly, FAC will organize CAFA teachers and artists to open lectures on aesthetics in middle and primary schools. The teachers and artists encourage the kids to express themselves by drawing. They help to develop children’s art talents.
”Future --- Here I Am”: encourage 4-17 year-old kids to show themselves by drawing
FAC is a completion for kids at the age of 4-17 years old, which is held once a year. FAC advocates the value “view of kids, way of free thinking, self-confident expression, a positive attitude” for aesthetic education.
With the theme on “urban dream: future --- Here I Am”, FAC sincerely hopes that all participators can draw their dream city. FAC targets to provide an atmosphere “release your imagination, deepen your sense of environmental protection” for all participators. Then FAC will deliver the public an ideology that start your green life from now, try to hug a world which is the same as that in your deep heart.
Pang Bang, the candidate of FAC jury and a famous artist, as well as the professor in CAFA Urban Design School and BFA(Beijing Film Academy) Animation School, once said that “the preliminary task of children drawing is to give them guidance and develop their imagination. Rich imagination will benefit the children all through their life because all the development in each field is driven by imagination. By observing and experience what’s happening in the world, children will collect all their ideas and thoughts together. Actually, drawing by themselves will be an important measure for children’s quality education. This FAC strictly follows the mission to care about children’s imagination and cultivate children’s creativity, trying to be a bridge for the international exchange and show the passion owned by the children in China.
Professor Huang Jiancheng, the chief designer of “Fantastic Art China”, deputy dean of CAFA Urban Design School, pointed out that “cities represent the ideal life expected by the human beings, people will move toward the city because cities can better satisfy people’s needs. Children can show us the most ideal city for us by drawing. Meanwhile, depending on ‘Fantastic Art China’, it is sincerely hoped that FAC can be well combined with art exhibition, educational exchange and aesthetic education forum etc; it is also hoped that FAC can push forward the art education, especially popularize and promote children’s aesthetic education; definitely, FAC will broaden the new modes for cultivating children art. Anyway, what FAC needs to do is to set up an international platform for the development and transmission of children’s art.
Link with New York: involve into international art exchange
FAC consists of four parts -- preliminary selection, re-selection by creation, exhibition throughout China and award-issuing in New York, which includes 1000 “Excellent Awards”. By Dec. 2017, the 15 participators who is honored as “Future Art Star” will be announced. All participators at different ages will have the opportunities to get the honor “Future Art Star”.
The Art Steering Committee and Review Committee of FAC will be played by the famous artists and consultants from CAFA, which will make the selection and competition quite professional and authoritative.
During 2018 Spring Festival, the excellent artwork-makers and 15 “Future Art Star” selected by FAC will go to New York. There, together with the artists involved into New York activities to join the cultural art exchange. There, they also have the opportunity to have a deep communication with the world-known art colleges.
Associate Professor Zheng Qinyan, FAC academic guide and the person in charge of CAFA Children’s Art Education Office, pointed out that when learning art, people will always get themselves have a deep thinking about the relationship between human and nature, the relationship between human and all species in the world, as well as the question “why shall people be like this”. So every one shall carefully thing about the question “how will the future be like” and we can show our dream future by drawing. Sticking to the ideology of “being innovative”, CAFA Children’s Art Education Office will do its best to discover and cultivate children with great potential and talents. It is also hoped that the value and the dream “pay attention to children’s free development, free innovation, free expression and free self-expression” can be penetrated into the whole competition.
Zheng Nuo, the art director of GAFA (Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts) JIMEI Group, said that JIMEI has always paid attention to fine arts system, cared about cultural development and the implementation of educational purpose. Being as the organizer of FAC, JIMEI will coordinate with the Organization Committee to push forward the exploration work related to children’s aesthetic education.
Care about children’s aesthetic education: create an environment for aesthetic education, get children care about and take part in environment construction
On Jun. 12, FAC Organization Committee held the “Future - Here I Am -- Children’s Aesthetic Education Summit Forum”, where children’s aesthetic education institutes and experts with great influence in China were invited. On the forum, they discussed that under the globalization, how to create a good atmosphere for aesthetic education from the view of school education, family education and social education. So that a good enlightenment will be provided for cultivating children’s ability of beauty-appreciation and creativity.
Zheng Qinyan, the forum host and the person in charge of CAFA Children’s Art Education Office, introduced that based on FAC theme “urban dream”, what we need to do is to guide children to observe the environment; and carried out a discussion on the current development and future development of modern cities.
For the current situation of children’s drawing education in China, Chang Ruilun, a famous art educator, said that art education includes several aspects -- family art education, social art education and school art education. We can say that FAC is a kind of social art education because it is not done in a school but to the whole society. Today, China follows the the ideology multi-art creation. Depending on this ideology and the answer of “why do you learn art”, perform the teacher training and course setting.
For the understanding on children’s drawing, Long Niannan, the deputy director of China Artists Association Children’s Art Commission and the general secretary general, said “first, we need to get ourselves out of the restriction of traditional values and better understand the drawing via its cognition. We should clearly know that drawing is not a matter to draw a picture on a piece of paper. Contrarily, it is a matter reflecting what one has observed, felt and imagined.”
For the way Chinese children use to experience and express the world, Professor Chen Qi, the director of Education Promotion Center of CAFA Urban Design School, said “perhaps, our kids are very good are drawing after large amounts of practice in basic skills; however, they may be constrained when they are asked to draw based on a certain theme or they are asked to do creations by themselves. By FAC, we sincerely hope that each kid can find themselves and discover the world gradually, let themselves have a closer link with the world. Besides, we hope that they can have the ability to do judgement by themselves and form their own opinions when they are still young. Then the kids can show the future by drawing and try to find themselves.”
For the features and rules of art education, Ms. Liang Mei, associate researcher of CASS (Chinese Academy of Social Science) Philosophy Institute Aesthetic Office, thought that art education is a kind of aesthetic education and emotional education, as well as a kind of idealism education. Or we can say art education is to provide a home for our souls. However, the current art education is not. So I hope FAC can make people realize that children’s art education can be a part of people’s life, which can unconsciously influence our lives.”
We deeply believe that in the future, FAC will not only help the development of International Children’s Aesthetic Education Summit Forum but also become an authoritative academic platform for children’s aesthetic education in China or even in the whole world
