After attracting thousands of people each day since opening June 16 in Beijing, the First Chinese Farmers' Art Festival will close its doors, marking a successful celebration of Chinese folk arts and crafts.

Embroidery from Guizhou. [Global Times]

 

A wide range of works from across the country have been on show, including paintings, embroidery, paper-cutting and pottery, all traditional arts and crafts that are also innovative, reflecting rural life in today's modern world.

"It's the first time that we have participated in such a large-scale art festival," commented Hu Guangkui, director of Mianzhu New Year Painting Museum in Sichuan. "We are very surprised that our folk paintings have been welcomed by so many people in Beijing."

With thousands years of rural history, people living outside of China's cities have developed a wide range of arts and crafts for use in their daily routines and to explore their creative pursuits, according to Tang Ke, director of the Agricultural Exhibition Center where the art festival is being held. He added that many works and folk art forms have become famous both in and out of the country.

Tang said that holding such a festival not only helps people in the city understand rural residents' cultural lives, but is also of great importance in preserving and innovating such art forms.

"Only when more and more people recognize these traditional arts and crafts can they better survive," he said.

One of the most renowned areas for folk painting in China is Mianzhu in the north-west of Sichuan Province. It is one of several famous locations that have produced beautiful works since the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Thousand of pictures were made each day during the early days of New China, when hanging several of such works for interior decoration was very popular, according to Hu.