In honour of the Friendship City relationship between Bunbury and the Chinese city of Jiaxing, visitors to the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery will enjoy the traditional works of Chinese folk paintings.
The Modern Folk Paintings of Xiuzhou, China exhibition opens on Friday 1 February with a launch party at the gallery.
The artworks have been donated to the Gallery from Xiuzhou – a district located in Jiaxing, China. Jiaxing has been a Friendship City to Bunbury since 2000. Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of that relationship.
For thousands of years, people living in and around the waterways of Xiuzhou have created colourful folk art.
This art has been included on printed fabrics, painted household stoves, carved cake moulds, clay sculptures, embroidery, paper cutting and architectural ornaments. It has also been woven into the tradition of Xiuzhou festivals, food, clothing and funeral and wedding ceremonies.
Xiuzhou is a typical canal town in Southern China located in the north-eastern part of Zheijiang Province on the Yangtze River Delta.
Xiuzhou has a rich culture developed over thousands of years of agriculture and relationship with the waterways. Out of this culture grew the folk art of the Xiuzhou Modern Folk Paintings.
Senior Officer International Relations Carol McDowell said this artistic aesthetic had been passed down from generation to generation.
- “Xiuzhou Folk Paintings show the vibrant life of the rural areas south of the Yangtze River with exaggerated structures, bright colours and dynamic composition,” Ms McDowell said.
- “These works exude a strong sense of place and provide an insight into the lives and work of the people who live there and we are honoured to be able to share these works with visitors to BRAG.”
Proceeds of the sale of the artworks will form a fund to send a reciprocal exhibition to Xiuzhou.
The Chinse Consul General in Perth will be attending the exhibition launch with three of his officers who will then open the Chinese New Year Festival the following day.
BRAG is owned and managed by the City of Bunbury and supported by the Government of Western Australia through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
