The First China’s Cartoon & Animation Artistic Exhibition was unveiled on Oct. 26 at the National Museum of China. A total of more than 500 officials and artists attended the opening ceremony, including Ouyang Jian, vice Cultural Minister, Hu Zhanfan, vice director of State Administration of Radio Film and Television.

Sponsored by the Central Government, the exhibition covers a wide range of categories with the cartoon and animation as its core from the cartoon, the animation, art to the television, the film and the performance as an overall review of the development process of the art in the past six decades. The exhibition is hoped to display not only the remarkable achievements of the art but also the recent fruits of the technological innovation of modern cartoon and animation and the latest development of the industrialization.

Ouyang Jian, vice Cultural Minister, mentioned in the speech, the exhibition is expected to encourage the cartoon and animation artists to make innovation based on traditions to present more and better original works as a way to arouse the trend of promoting the development of the art. 

The exhibition is displayed on the third and the fifth floors respectively. The former section provides a review of the classics as the theme along with a number of precious collections from public organizations and private treasures representing various schools of the country’s animation and cartoon. Most of the works are masterpieces by influential artists including Feng Zikai, Wan Laiming, Zhang Leping, Zhang Guangyu, Ding Cong, A Da, Hua Junwu, Te Wei, Fang Cheng and Chen Yifei. The fifth floor displays recent works by new talents especially well-known original images, such as “Happy Sheep and Grey Wolf”, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and “Messy Temple” and “Mc Dull” from Taiwan and Hong Kong. The majority of the exhibits are popular in the public and reflect the flourishing trend of the industry development.

The exhibition boasts three main highlights as follows:

Firstly, the interaction of the new media reveals the trend of the latest development of the combination of the art, the technology and the industry. What catches the eyes of the audience at first on the third floor is a huge “tree of the cartoon and animation history” designed by 3D technique. The audience able to know more about the development process and the evolution of the China’s cartoon and animation in the past 60 years through walking on the shadow on the floor. Each collision between the person and the shadow brings a dialogue frame, which reveals the introduction to the masterpieces of different periods as a brand-new method to know the splendid history of the art. The exhibition hall on the fifth floor is equipped with the advanced facial expression identification system by Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences, namely, the audience can change their expression into 3D cartoon images immediately with the touching screen and sample-picking lens. The video is enlarged into a huge projection as a visual shock to the audience.

Secondly, the exhibition showcases the industrialized process of the animation. The

exhibition specially invites Tianjin Shenjie Animation Co.Ltd to bring the scene of production line of “Romance of Three Kingdoms” at the exhibition hall. The cartoon is a full-colorful industrialized cartoon in a large scale and with delicate quality and it is also the first original work entering the market of Japan and authorized to be exported to Europe, South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. A total of 12 designers make live demonstration of the four classics in the past 7 years in an aim to help audience know more about the new model and new situation of the original animation industrialization with the Chinese characteristics and accelerate the development of the industry. Such a unique creation model has been widely referred by small and medium-sized enterprises and studios across the country.

Thirdly, the exhibition displays the making process of the cartoon and animation. A group of three-dimensional interacted devices by Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences allows the operation of the audience to feel the core technology and the basic process of the CG technology. The exhibition is a good demonstration that the most advance CG technology bring the shocking effect and revolutionary development in the way of multi-media as well as the producing process of the modern industrialization.

The exhibition has received great support and concern from the government and the all walks of life since preparation. The works are selected from famous professional colleges, publishing organizations and social organizations. The exhibition comprises a total of 321 works collected by the National Art Museum of China, National Museum of China, National Library of China, Shanghai Animation Film Studio, People’s Fine Arts Publishing House and private treasures. It includes 26 animated film, 69 animated shortfilm, 35 TV serials, 4 new media cartoons, 37 ironic cartoons, 60 comic books, 73 animations of new period, and 17 illustrations covering the masterpieces since New China was founded in 1949. 

The exhibition is currently on display until Nov. 18 at Hall 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 and 21. A series of professional, academic and artistic activities including seminars and TV serials intend to reflect the achievements since New China establishment. The activities boasts a diversity of forms, such as more than 30 cartoons are broadcast on relevant channels, 26 animated films will be broadcast in cinemas and communities. More than 30 dramas will be performed in the local theatres including Tadpole looks for mom. And there will be cosplay performance in Happy Valley.

The academic seminar on the first cartoon and animation artistic exhibition attracting more than 150 representatives to discuss the problem confronted nowadays and the strategy in modern Chinese art to promote the development of the industry.