A fancy art tour
By Su Wei & Vivian Zhang

8月3日至15日,由厦门市文联副主席徐里率队的我市艺术家一行访问了荷兰的祖特梅尔和瑞典的赫尔辛堡两市,参观了20多个艺术家工作室和艺术创作中心,并与外国同行们进行了广泛的交流.所见所闻,感慨良多.

Respected and popular
Q: Mr. Xu, Could you share with us the most impressive thing you experienced in this European tour?
A: Well, in Europe, art enjoys such a high social status and artists are very respected among people, ordinary citizens and senior officials alike. I think this impressed me most. A case in point is the city of Zoetermeer in the Netherlands. The mayor of the city postponed his vacation merely in order to meet us. Then we were amazed to find that inside the municipal government building there was a wall solely devoted to presenting works by the local artists and was renewed every month!
Later the mayor explained that artists always hold a high position in their society. Moreover, the government often bought their pictures as souvenirs for guests, mostly at high prices.

Q: Impressive indeed Then how do ordinary citizens think of art? Is art popular among them?
A: Very much so. In Europe visiting art museums is widely recognized as a necessity of life. No wonder museums are always crowded all year long and the admission fee is charged at a very reasonable price. Here is an interesting story: Once, as I strolled in a museum, I overheard a young mother illustrating Van Gogh's paintings one by one to her little baby! This is but an epitome of the immense artistic atmosphere in Europe.


Presenting a gift to the mayor of Zoetermeer

Q: Since your tour covered quite a few European cities, what is your impression of their city development and how is art related with that?
A: The so-called symbols of the modern city, skyscrapers, are almost invisible in European cities. Instead the local governments put much emphasis on retaining the integrity of ancient architectural art. Attributed to advanced technology, the interior of those old buildings are rebuilt and modernized while the outside appearance is kept well intact. What's more, in Zoetermeer, before a building is rebuilt, customarily an artistic activity has to be held in it.

What are the differences?
Q: Does art also play a key role in economic activities? How is the art market better cultivated and more prosperous there in the West?
A: Well, many European countries adopt favorable policies regarding art collecting such as tax exemption. As a result, a lot of entrepreneurs have developed into collectors of art works and fervent art lovers of high taste. At a museum in Sweden, we found most collections coming not from government support, but from donations of corporations or art monetary funds set up by those corporations.
In Sweden, we presented an art exhibition by Prince Charles. The income from his painting sales was used for charity purposes. We were taken aback to find that even the smallest piece of duplicated art was priced at 3,000 Euro. From it one can visualize how deep the social elites are involved in art. I hope in our country, both the corporations and social elites will do the same in boosting the art market.


A scene at the workshop of a local artist

Q: Have you found from your tour any differences between Chinese artists and western artists?
A: The primary difference lies in the art training. Chinese students are required to cultivate solid foundation and sound drawing skills. On the contrary, western artists pay more attention to students' creativity and innovation. In their opinion, creativity is the soul of a picture, and therefore the most important criteria in training and selecting future artists.
The result of these two different ways of teaching is apparent. For example, during the stay of Zoetermeer's artists in Xiamen this spring, they commented that our students' works, though speaking of mature skills, looked so much alike. Only on the condition that these students let loose their full imagination are they going to compete with great artists in the world.

Q: How different is their lifestyle from that of Chinese?
A: Unlike Chinese artists busy with making ends meet, western artists, especially those from northern Europe, enjoy high welfare from their government. As a result, they can fully concentrate on their work. They keep their mind peaceful and serene, which is crucial to creating a successful picture.

Future plan
Q: How significant is this tour?
A: This tour is part of our artist exchange program. Under such a program more artists from both sides will communicate and cooperate in their artistic creations. Besides, through this program Xiamen and Zoetermeer are prepared to become sister cities. Hopefully the tie will be officially established late this year.


At the exhibition by Prince Charles

Q: Do you have any future plans for artistic communication?
A: Sure. This September another tour from Xiamen will visit Zoetermeer. Later in November the new mayor of Zoetermeer will visit Xiamen in return. Hopefully in the long run as the mutual exchanges grow, all country members of the EU will recognize Xiamen and its artists. We believe our art course will make remarkable progress; our art creation will blossom in the near future.

小马碟报
By 高翔



小马是Sunshine FM的一位听众,去年从西北政法大学毕业回到家乡厦门工作.他可能是在大学的最后一个学期开始在线收听Sunshine FM.也是那时开始上Sunshine FM的BBS发布碟报,向大家推荐他所收集到的原版欧美唱片.碟报图文并茂,摇滚,乡村,流行,POP,爵士应有尽有.有时有试听链接,至今可能不下30期了.也是由他开始,BBS上的好多人开始发布碟报,让大家了解他们的音乐收藏和欣赏口味.很有意思的是BBS上的另外一位碟报者"摩登原始人" 当时发现小马所拥有的欧美原版CD数量及质量之后,尊称小马为"打口狂人" .

高翔曾邀小马做了几次MP(Music Partner),在Sunshine FM里直接向大家推荐他的CD收藏.当时两次MP内容他都是以介绍电子音乐为主,推荐了Moby, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, Morcheeba和Lemmon Jelly的音乐.这些电子音乐和谐的律动,丰富的想像让小马陶醉其中,也感染了我.

一个月以前小马把英国电子组合Lemmon Jelly的一首Space Walk(太空漫步)放到Sunshine FM的BBS上让大家试听,这是一首和你想像中的电子音乐有些不同的作品,没有电子音乐中的"啾啾啾" ,也丝毫不适合在迪厅里播放,反而是一派钢琴的安详与静谧,然后是木吉他的欢快和轻松,宇航员一遍又一遍地重复着太空漫步的美好感觉."Beautiful, it's beautiful."好多听众都说:"好听,真好听!" 小马还会继续在我们的BBS上发布他的碟报的,有空的话你可以去认识他一下.

(音乐台网站www.fm909.com.cn,Sunshine FM纪念T-shirt派送中)