Since 2020, Shenzhen Impression has been helping Shenzhen build a new center and growth point for cultural and creative works in the Bay Area by building a modern urban cultural and creative exhibition and promotion platform. As the fourth edition of "Shenzhen Impression", this exhibition aims to promote cultural innovation, strengthen cultural confidence, and tell the "Shenzhen story" well. It has been widely solicited from all sectors of society and selected by a professional jury. A total of 189 excellent cultural and creative exhibits that meet the theme of "Shenzhen Impression" have been exhibited, presenting the age and geographical span of creative design in a three-dimensional manner. It showcases the close combination of modern cultural and creative design with contemporary art, intangible cultural heritage inheritance, local culture, urban landmarks, environmental protection concepts, and other aspects, demonstrating the trend of cultural genes and era aesthetics integration and innovation.

This year's "Shenzhen Impressions" exhibition will be open to all citizens for free from December 19, 2023, and will last until January 21, 2024. During this period, the exhibition will focus on the theme of "Shenzhen Impressions" art, culture, and creativity, and carefully plan public education activities related to the exhibition.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Shenzhen being awarded the title of China's first "City of Design" by UNESCO. Since the reform and opening up more than 40 years ago, Shenzhen, a highly regarded city, has gone through accumulation, practice, and fusion, from being the world's factory to upgrading its manufacturing industry, and then to becoming the global capital of innovation and creativity. "Shenzhen Design" has left a mark of the times.

In this land full of diversity, creative talents gather together, and design dreams take root and sprout. With the advent of the digital age, the triple integration of "human machine object" has emerged, and AIGC has emerged. The cultural and creative design works of designers, brand teams, and cultural innovation stars are imprinted in every corner of the city with their characteristics of timeliness, innovation, originality, localization, cross-border, and artistry. Excellent creative design combines aesthetics and practicality, becoming a unique symbol of Shenzhen's era. It not only enhances the quality of life, but also meets the spiritual and cultural needs of the public.

In recent years, cultural and creative design in Shenzhen has faced good opportunities for the development of the creative industry, thanks to its unique cultural and creative advantages. As a platform for showcasing, developing, and exchanging cultural and creative industries, "Shenzhen Impressions" is precisely the "recorder" and "promoter" of the development of cultural and creative design in Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area.

Preface

2023 is the first year to fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Shenzhen Guan Shanyue Art Museum strives to build and polish an academic brand that is in line with the orientation of the art museum, and constantly stimulates the innovation and creativity of culture and art.

As we approach the new year, our museum will launch the "Youth Impressions -10th Guan Shanyue Art Museum Youth Fine Arts Exhibition". This project is based on the urban cultural characteristics of Shenzhen's openness, diversity, and innovative creativity, as well as our academic positioning. It has been ten years since its establishment in 2014. "Youth imprint" witnessed the gradual transfer of participating artists from the 70s and 80s to the 90s and 00s, witnessed the growth and concern of young meticulous painters, and also witnessed the historical changes in their aesthetic taste, as well as the connection between the dream of national cultural rejuvenation and reality.

The 10th "Youth Impressions" will continue to be co hosted by our museum in collaboration with the China Fine Brushwork Society. After strict selection by the judging committee, 62 outstanding young meticulous painters and two artists were selected for their spatial projects. Among them, the Central Hall and Hall C are the "Youth Impressions" themed exhibitions, featuring over a hundred works by 62 artists. They show us how young artists, inspired by the older generation of meticulous painters, not only adhere to traditional roots but also constantly keep up with the times, relying on their own ideals, abilities, and responsibilities to inject infinite vitality into this ancient art, and make this project a platform for young meticulous painters to showcase new exploration and thinking. A. Hall B is dedicated to the spatial projects "Seeking Realm" and "Wandering in the Garden". The "Seeking the Realm" project uses a part of Wang Ximeng's "Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains" as an introduction, with Su Shi's "Calming the Wave, Don't Listen to the rain beating against the trees" as the main axis. It seems to share his feelings at different stages of green landscape painting creation, but in reality, it presents a forgotten and imaginative art creation history under the concept of "Literature Is the Vehicle of Ideas", as well as rational thinking about the integration of traditional and foreign art and culture in the context of globalization. The Wandering in the Garden project reproduces various types of public gardens built in today's urban space, combining modern cultural backgrounds with traditional aesthetic genes, from the perspectives of physical space exploration and psychological space imagination.

Looking back at the past decade, "Little sparks gather to form a torch." Young meticulous painters confidently and steadfastly depict a series of paintings and moments like ordinary people, showcasing the resilient and vibrant spirit of the younger generation, as well as reflecting the coordinates of the development of the times and the changes in the development of the times. In the new year, we hope that young meticulous painters can continue to explore the development of traditional Chinese art, create more excellent works, help the high-quality development of Shenzhen's art industry, and promote the construction of Shenzhen into an international and innovative city full of charm, power, vitality, and innovation.

Guan Shanyue Art Museum

The Southwest Sketching Exhibition of Guan Shanyue in the 1940s will feature seven chapters: "Decision under Crisis," "Where is the Road," "Turning to the Southwest," "Initial Exploration of the Shu Road," "Living in the Shu Land," "Life of Miao Residents," and "Tracing back to Dunhuang," telling the audience about the transformation of Guan Shanyue's painting style. On December 15th, at the A7 and A8 exhibition halls in Zone A of Chengdu Art Museum, let's embark on this sketching journey together with Guan Shanyue!

President Xi Jinping replied to the old experts and artists of the China National Art Museum, emphasizing that "efforts should be made in high-quality collection, high-level utilization, and high-quality services to create a national and even world-class art hall for the people to appreciate art masterpieces and enhance cultural literacy in the new era.". The reply from General Secretary has a strong historical depth and practical appeal, pointing out the direction for the high-quality development of the art museum industry in the new era.

In order to implement the spirit of General Secretary's instructions, our museum has carefully planned and launched the "Renovation of Painting Path - Southwest Sketching Exhibition of Guan Shanyue in the 1940s" based on the collection of Guan Shanyue's Southwest sketching works in the 1940s. The aim is to explore the value of Guan Shanyue's sketching in the Southwest from 1940 to 1946, as well as its significance for the innovation and development of Chinese painting at that time and today. The exhibition has been selected for the "2023 National Fine Arts Museum Collection Exhibition Season" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and has been supported by the Shenzhen Special Fund for the Development of Propaganda and Culture.

The theme of the exhibition is "Renovation of Painting Path", which comes from a poem by Guo Moruo titled "Innovation in Painting Should Break Elegance, and Folk Forms Should Seek Truth" for his work "Camel Bells Outside the Great Wall" after visiting the Western Journey of Guan Shanyue in Chongqing in 1944. "Painting Path" has a dual meaning: firstly, it refers to the difficult journey of Guan Shanyue's sketching in Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing and other places; Secondly, it refers to Guan Shanyue's innovative way of sketching. Guan Shanyue's concept of sketching originated during his study period under the tutelage of Gao Jianfu. During the Anti Japanese War, his experience of sketching in Southwest China made him pay more attention to delving into the folk and drawing inspiration from reality. Especially when he transformed sketching into creation, he greatly preserved the vivid characteristics of folk sketching, carrying a unique personal style and the spirit of the times.

In the exhibition planning, we have adopted a rigorous academic attitude and historical research to restore the historical details of Guan Shanyue's sketching in Southwest China. We have used digital media to comprehensively display literature, communication, paintings, and historical images, striving to recreate the difficult sketching explorations of the generation of artists represented by Guan Shanyue. This allows the audience to understand how Chinese painters continued their writing skills, grasped the pulse of the times, assumed the mission of the times, and continuously adhered to the principles of righteousness and innovation in the national crisis of the Anti Japanese War. This exploration also provides new inspiration for us to build modern civilization of the Chinese nation in the new era.

Chen Xiangbo, Director of Shenzhen Guan Shanyue Art Museum

June 25, 2023

The Shenzhen Poznan Friendship City 30th Anniversary Twin City Poster Exhibition is a twin city poster exhibition project planned in response to the national development strategy of building the "New Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", taking the 30th anniversary of establishing friendly city relations between Shenzhen and Poznan City as an opportunity. The exhibition showcases the unique and charming representative cultures of the two cities through unique poster designs, showcasing their respective visual styles and cultural concepts. Shenzhen and Poznan City were established as sister cities on July 30, 1993. The Warsaw International Poster Biennale in Poland is the world's earliest and most prestigious art poster exhibition, with a long design tradition. The design culture of Shenzhen has grown rapidly with the rapid development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. As the earliest national key art museum in China to collect design works, Shenzhen Guanshanyue Art Museum continuously conducts academic sorting, research, collection, and exhibition in the field of design art, promoting and promoting the construction of Shenzhen as the "City of Design". The Guanshanyue Art Museum in Shenzhen has a long-standing connection with Poland through art. As early as August 1956, Mr. Guan Shanyue visited Poland for sketching and created more than 60 sketching works in Poland, including "Chopin's Former Residence" and "Gdansk Shipyard". He also held an exhibition at the Chinese Embassy in Poland. After returning to China, the "Visit of Guan Shanyue and Liu Mengtian to Poland Sketching Exhibition" was still exhibited in Beijing. These precious works of Guan Shanyue bear witness to the friendship between China and Poland for over half a century, and are now housed in the Guan Shanyue Art Museum in Shenzhen. After Shenzhen and Poznan became sister cities, their friendship and cooperation in the field of art became even closer. The Guan Shan Yue Art Museum held the "Contemporary Chinese Poster Exhibition to Poland" at the Poznan Art Museum in 2011; In 2013, the "Beyond Images: Marius Katona Foundation Collection Art Exhibition" was held in Shenzhen; In July 2023, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Shenzhen Poznan Friendship City, the "Shenzhen Poznan Friendship City 30th Anniversary Twin City Poster Joint Exhibition (Shenzhen Station)" will be held to initiate the theme of twin city pairing. The holding of these activities is not only a link for cultural exchange between the two cities, but also a driving force for promoting and advancing the cultural development of the two cities..

Guan Shanyue and Yu Xining were both born in an era of internal and external troubles, as well as a time of cultural collision and replacement of old and new concepts between China and the West. As artists, their works have always responded to the self-improvement and revival of national and ethnic culture since modern times, and also reflect the individual exploration and humanistic care of artists.

 works exhibited this time, along with his anti Japanese war paintings, life sketches, theme creations, and landscape paintings, reflect his creative philosophy of "keeping up with the times". His flower and bird paintings express personal and even national artistic emotions through the techniques of conveying emotions and objects. Whether it is the red cotton and green banyan trees in Lingnan, or the pine, green bamboo, and ancient cypress trees that have always been imbued with spiritual power by the Chinese people, they all reflect the rich spiritual world of artists. Guan Shanyue is renowned for her unique revolutionary spirit, which is condensed on Guan Mei（Literal meaning in Chinese：The Plum Blossoms Painted by Guan Shanyue）.

Mr. Yu Xining, on the other hand, adheres to the motto of "cultivating talent and diligence, sharing three souls with one heart". In his paintings, he emphasizes the unity of national spirit, painting soul, and human soul, expanding the humanistic realm of traditional flower and bird painting. Especially since the 1980s, he has focused on "plum blossoms" as his main creative theme. Based on tradition, he has developed a magnificent and bright artistic style, which not only promotes the artistic essence of national painting, but also reflects a strong spirit of the times. "Yu Mei（Literal meaning in Chinese：The Plum Blossoms Painted by Yu Xining）" has thus become his unique artistic symbol, attracting worldwide attention.

Rivers, waves, oceans, tides

Exhibition of Art Works by Zhang Huajiang, Chen Xiangbo, Xie Hai, and Liu Chunchao

Originating from July 2016

With Zhang Huajiang, Chen Xiangbo, Xie Hai, and Liu Chunchao

Four person name naming

Will showcase Zhang Huajiang's collection and

Works created by Chen Xiangbo, Xie Hai, and Liu Chunchao

More than 80 pieces in total

Zhang Tianyi's "Plant Intelligence Plan" has opened the seal of nature, reminding us to think about species relationships from a perspective that goes beyond human limitations. In the plant ecology she created, plants and insects help each other to resist crises, and this kind of balanced wisdom appeared far before humans invented insecticides; Jin Lipeng's Seed Plan traces the global network of collecting and activating endangered seeds, visiting seed scientists and breeders, and thus rethinking the concept of "ecological planting"; At the same time, artists and curators revisited Wu Qijun, the first naturalist (botanist) in China to name the word "plant". He compiled "A Study of Plant Names and Realities" at the Dongshu Botanical Garden in Gushi, which also reconnected this thread with the history of traditional Chinese technology; Long Pan's "Wind Chime" reflects the true relationship between humans, plants, and the environment from another perspective. The artist extracts copper from plants in areas contaminated with electronic waste through plant mining (recycling metals from plants rich in metals) and makes it into a small wind chime, reminding that the traces left by humans on the land will be far longer than humans themselves.

Artist Zhou Zhiyuan intervened in the life of microorganisms. In his works Spores and Spores, he seals the Penicillium community closely related to human medical history, keeping the bacteria in a dormant state, with bubbles being the last breath of air exhaled by pre dormant life forms; Artists Hao Jingfang and Wang Lingjie's "Sun Painting" view the sun as an artist, using self-made devices to record the traces of their artwork within a week. This is similar to the beauty of a sundial, but it transcends its instrumental nature; Artists Su Yongjian and Barry Yun's work "When Breath Can Speak" regards humans as a member of the many species on Earth. After removing language as a unique tool for humans, they return to the perspective of equal species and re-examine communication between individuals in the most primitive way, which is the most common but crucial object.