Qijiang farmers' journey into creative fields

Located at the southern gateway of the southwestern municipality, Qijiang has a rich cultural heritage and is a multi-ethnic-populated area of over 9,600 residents from 42 Chinese ethnic groups — nearly 6,000 of whom are from the Miao and Yi ethnic groups, according to local authorities.

Distinctive local folk arts including Qijiang Farmers' Printmaking — a municipal-level intangible cultural heritage, and Yongcheng Chuida (or Suona Art) — a national intangible cultural heritage, have earned Qijiang the status of "Hometown of Modern Chinese Folk Paintings" in 1988 and "Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art" from 2008 to 2014 bestowed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

"Growing crops is hard work, and so is printmaking," says 45-year-old Liu Qinfo, a farmer in Dongxi township who used to work in the farm all year round and run a small bookstore in his local community. "But the latter one has offered me a brand-new livelihood with brain work."

Liu Qinfo says now he could normally earn several hundred yuan during each short peak tourist season such as the Spring Festival, May Day and National Day holidays through offering tourists printmaking experience and selling printmaking souvenirs.

Despite the fact that he just started to learn the art since 2017, the creative man makes Qijiang farmers' prints — like the twelve zodiac animals, flowers, birds, fish and insects — onto stones, and promotes tourist souvenirs.

Thanks to the efforts of inheritors, artists and the local government, this traditional art is now shining with vigorous vitality.

According to Liu Yue, Qijiang Farmers' Printmaking has been included in this year's annual international cultural exchange program by the local government, and she and her team is scheduling an art exhibition in Tanzania between September and November.

A printmaking major who graduated from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, innovative-minded Liu Yue started to promote the distinctive art since 2014 by utilizing her knowledge and market acumen.

For example, she suggested using richer materials and colors (including gray and fluorescent), to make the works — which can be used for home decorations, tourist souvenirs and high-end collection — look more modern and elegant, and more in line with the aesthetic preferences of the young people.

She noted in the past two years, their works' market acceptance is steadily increasing.

"The art's main force are folk artists born in the 1970s and 1980s."