Chongqing - On International Children's Day, nearly 80 children from Chongqing received a special holiday gift - the "Hey, Kids" art exhibition featuring their creations, opened in Yuelai Art Museum, which is scheduled to run until June 11th.
The "Hey, Kids" art exhibition, featuring their creations, opened at the Rock Space in Yuelai Art Museum and will run until June 11th. (Photo/Yuelai Art Museum)
The works that revealed children's keen observation and creative imagination, including images, paintings, digital drawings, clay sculptures, and installations, were either hung on the walls or placed on the natural rocks.
For example, the painting Beautiful Chongqing, drawn by 10-year-old Zhu Lingli, featured iconic yellow cabs and a massive pile of colorful stores with discount posters, reflecting daily life in Chongqing, the hustle and bustle.
The painting "Beautiful Chongqing" was drawn by 10-year-old Zhu Lingli. (Photo/Yuelai Art Museum)
Eleven-year-old Yu Hongbo presented a series of works called "Cubic Men," in which he created an entire world for the cubic characters he imagined. These characters took on various professions, such as farmers, pizza restaurant chefs, professors, and eSports players.
Ten-year-old Feng Qiandi drew her Home on small pebbles. At the exhibition, these crafted stones were stacked together to form an installation artwork, which prompted many viewers to raise their phones to capture the work.
"Our exhibition mainly targets children," explained Tian Meng, the academic host of the art exhibition." She further explained that the direction of art galleries has gradually shifted from being "artifact-centered" to "audience-centered." Coinciding with Children's Day, an exhibition centered around children's creations emerged.
Tian Meng also expressed the hope that through the exhibition, children's education, especially art education, can be extended beyond the confines of homes and schools into the broader social domain. This can be achieved through on-site dialogue and communication, which is a responsibility that art museums should undertake.
At the same time, the adults who came to view the exhibition were amazed, exclaiming, "Look, this is so adorable!" and "Wow, you even created such various jobs for the characters in your work!"
A relevant worker from Yuelai Art Museum said, "From the children's works, we can see their keen observation and different perception of the world, which in turn refresh adults' minds."
(Yang Yuanchun, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)