Treasure hunting experience
By Vivian Zhang
Photos by Yao Fan



厦门首届旅游文化跳蚤市场在"五一"期间开了张, 琳琅满目的民间手工艺品让你看花了眼, "挑幡"、"吹糖人"、剪纸等绝活更令人大开眼界.

During the May Day holidays, the first street art activity of its kind in Xiamen, "Xiamen Tourism Culture Flea Market" opened at Wanyuepo on the Island Ring Road. On May 3rd and 4th, thousands of tourists as well as locals swarmed here and were dazed by a variety of authentic Fujian cultures and art. The event was held by related government departments at the suggestion of Dr Bill Brown, the most famous "Laowai" in Xiamen.



It seemed to be a paradise for the treasure-hunting tourists. While enjoying the breezes and the picturesque sea view, they shuttled back and forth through the dozens of stands set up on the beach, taking their picks and bargaining with the owner. There were so many amusing, handicraft things you couldn't expect to see elsewhere, including hand-operated puppets, wood engravings, sugar figures making, paste figures making, paper cutting, etc. Many of the folk artists came from the neighboring areas like Zhangzhou and Zhangpu. Also for sale were some private collections of badges, porcelain and stamps.

Nearer to the sea, one hundred artists and their easels were scattered widely across the beach, making oil paintings. One could buy on the spot if he was taken to a field fabrication or a replica of an acclaimed art piece. These artists are all from Wushipu, a place in Xiamen known as a site of oil painters' colony.



The most striking performance in the market was surely the Tiao Fan (挑幡 flag carrying show) from Jianou. The long and narrow flags are made of huge bamboos, each over 10 meters in length and 20 kg in weight. The flag, carried by the performer using hand, shoulder, elbow or mouth, is supposed to be kept vertical at all times. The tricks included dancing to Chinese folk music, waving the flag swiftly by turning the wrist, and tossing and catching the flag. It is an exercise requiring both great power and technique. To many people's surprise, half of the performers were women. One lady told the reporter that she was from Jianou Ship-building Factory and had been engaged in this exercise for over ten years. Last year, they participated in the National Women Exercises Expo and won the Gold Prize. It was the third time for them to perform in Xiamen.



Vocabulary
flea 跳蚤
paste 面团
shuttle 穿梭
fabrication 制作

Sculptures for the land of tomorrow
By Liggy Li



As you might have noticed, sculptures have become an important part of Xiamen. To mention a few, "Egret Fairy" and "3 Generations of Helping Hands" along the Island Ring Road are among people's favorite. Yet have you imagined that one day you could create a sculpture with old boxes and neon? This idea was inspired by a lecture recently given by David Batchelor, an accomplished British sculptor.

David was lucky for he was the first foreign artist who gave the lecture which marked the beginning of the second "Sea and Music" Xiamen International Sculpture Exhibition.

Compared with the first exhibition, the one held late this year is more professional and international. In Vice Mayor Pan's words, the exhibition can make local people know their culture better and more importantly, promote Xiamen's international status. As we know, the sea and music are the two themes of the exhibition. The sea refers to profundity and tolerance while music is deeply associated with the city's unique charming characteristic - the island of music. Therefore, the sculptures should adequately represent the two themes and melt with the beautiful natural environment.

The first exhibition in 2003 brought lots of excellent sculptures to the city. Now about 120 both traditional and modern sculptures are scattered in downtown areas, along the beach, and in parks. This year, more wonderful sculptures in different styles are expected to add up to the city's beauty.

Different from the first year, this time the Government has two foreign curators who are in charge of inviting contemporary artists. From mid March to early April, 14 artists from home and abroad such as America, France, Russia, Mexico and Denmark paid visits to Xiamen. With the organization of the design agency of Xiamen government, those artists visited Gulangyu, Nanputuo Temple, Xiamen University and several other places of interest so as to get a better idea of the city and local culture. Also, they went to inspect many steel, bronze, stone and neon factories to find out whether there are qualified workshops that could turn their designs into real sculptures.

For most of them, it's their first time to come to Xiamen, and even China. They were taken back by the rapid development of the city as well as being overwhelmed by the Chinese traditional art in Nanputuo temple and the porcelain workshops in Qianpu district. They truly believe: being a city where tradition and modernity coexist harmoniously Xiamen is the land of tomorrow.

French Spring



On May 6, a video exhibition titled "French Spring" was opened at the Chinese European Art Center, Xiamen University.

Ten French contemporary artists showed their works shot worldwide. It is an exchange exhibition between China and France as last year, ten Chinese video-artists had a group exhibition titled "A New Urban Energy" in Fance, a program "that surprised the public and incited much querying" , as quoted by the curator Hilde Teerlinck.

The exhibition will end on May 28.