Farmers' Art at SCO: Story behind painting on exhibition at summit

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02:52

In the room where President Xi Jinping will greet foreign leaders at the SCO summit, is a painting that's sure to catch the attention of the guests. CGTN's Liu Xinqing went to a village in Shandong province to meet the artists behind it.

At 14.5 meters tall and 4.5 meters wide, this is the biggest painting on display at the SCO summit. And it was made, by five farmers.

47-year-old Li Lianqi is the leader of the team and the youngest among the five painters.

LI LIANQI FARMER PAINTER "It is the largest realist Chinese painting at the venue of the SCO summit. It's a drawing of peony flowers, which are also the national flowers of China."

Juye county, where these five painters are from is widely known for being the "hometown of farmer painters". It has more than 15,000 farmers practicing this art form in over 50 villages. Despite having a group of top-notch painters and a strong team working together for many years, they were taken by surprise after receiving such a big order for such an important event.

LI LIANQI FARMER PAINTER "Spring Festival was around the corner when we received the order, and (we) didn't realize it was for such an important occasion. We were given one month, and I rejected the request right away because the painting was too big to be finished within one month."

Gongbi painting, or realist Chinese painting, is one of the most difficult painting technique, and is known for its time-consuming and demanding nature. And pressure was on since day one when they decided to take up the project.

LI LIANQI FARMER PAINTER "We spent one month, revising the draft eight times, before coming up with the final version. And after that we started working on each detail trying to present a perfect painting for the summit."

LIU XINQING JUYE, SHANDONG "This is the studio where Mr. Li and his team created the biggest piece of art on exhibition at China's most important diplomatic event of this year, the SCO summit. It took 77 days before they put the last brush on the masterpiece."

When the final brush stroke was made, everyone took a deep sigh of relief.

ZHAO CHANGYU FARMER PAINTER "What impressed me the most was the last moment when we got all the colors on and presented a perfect match to the drawing of the flower and its coloring. We all felt very excited."

All five major painters participating in this project are national-level members of the China Artists Associations, and all of them are farmers who honed in on their craft while growing up in the nearby villages.

ZHAO CHANGYU FARMER PAINTER "The subjects of our paintings all come from the daily life. We grew up in the rural area, and have deep affection for everything we see around us."

Closer to nature, and closer to life. That is perhaps the reason why these farmer-artists were given the rare opportunity to demonstrate their talent at one of this year's most important events. Liu Xinqing, CGTN, Juye county, Shandong Province.