HANGZHOU, China, July 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — In 1963, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art) pioneered calligraphy education and started China’s first calligraphy and seal cutting program. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the calligraphy program of China Academy of Art (CAA), as well as the 60th anniversary of higher education in Chinese calligraphy.
"The Road of Calligraphy Education – Exhibition of Achievements in Sixty Years of Calligraphy Education in Chinese Universities" congregates calligraphy education at over a hundred universities across China. It showcases more than 360 works by pioneering masters, contemporary masters and alumni, and comprehensively presents the history and achievements of modern Chinese calligraphy education through documents, chronologies and pictures.
In 1963, Pan Tianshou, Lu Weizhao, Sha Menghai and other older-generation artists started China’s first professional calligraphy program at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art). China’s higher education in calligraphy made a start at China Academy of Art.
In 1979, driven by Lu Weizhao, Sha Menghai, Zhu Lesan and others, CAA launched China’s first calligraphy graduate program, which was also available to international students. In 1985, CAA was the first school in the country to get the approval for resuming undergraduate calligraphy education. Thereafter, many other universities in China and beyond started calligraphy programs. Higher education in calligraphy flourished in that new era. In 1996, the first Ph.D. art program combining practice and theory was launched at CAA. In September of that year, the first doctoral class focusing on the theoretical research of Chinese calligraphy was admitted. In 1999, the graduation of the first doctoral class marked the completion of the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral calligraphy education system, bringing China Academy of Art to a new height in higher education in Chinese calligraphy.
In 2001, CAA established China’s first independent Calligraphy Department. Thus, a complete teaching system and disciplinary framework for calligraphy have been put in place at the Academy, providing an important reference for calligraphy education in other universities at home and abroad. On April 8, 2023, on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of CAA, the School of Calligraphy, CAA was established.
The exhibition will last through July 18, 2023.
Please check the official website of China Academy of Art https://en.caa.edu.cn/ to learn more about the history of Chinese Calligraphy Education.