9月13日，中国日报刊发
天津北辰农民画：
守正创新，让世界看见中国传承
天津北辰画乡，诞生于上世纪70年代末。北辰地处天津北端，京津之间，京杭大运河贯通南北。依托运河，北辰自古就漕运发达，商贸兴盛，有皇家粮仓美誉。北辰农民画，便是从这样一个钟灵毓秀之地发迹，生生不息，绵于磅礴。
政府牵头，传承“心画”艺术
《春归大地》何小宝
农民画发端于1958年，彼时政府组织农民在文化馆、文化站画画，这也是今日画乡的雏形。画乡在文化馆里活动，有专业美术干部辅导，这种机制延续至今。多年来，在北辰区委区政府的支持下，北辰农民画以其独具的津味气息、运河情韵和乡土风采蜚声国内外。
作为北辰农民画第三代传承人，现任职于天津市北辰区文化馆的85后副研究馆员、著名画家、农民画传人何小宝对北辰农民画感情深厚。在他眼中，农民画是一种“心画”，来源于生活，往往直抒胸臆，表达画者的主观看法和理解。“可能一个农民走过一座大桥，他想记录下来；或者他看见改革开放以来身边的各种变化，他就拿起了画笔，直观地去表现他内心所想。”
农民画得以绵延兴盛，很大程度上因为其广泛的群众基础。“很多人以前会剪纸、刺绣，当他们把剪刀换作画笔，用画笔绣花，把民间艺术融入画中，农民画也就应运而生。”何小宝说。
既已植根于沃土，还需阳光雨露润泽、管培精心护理。原中国美术馆馆长助理、民间美术部主任，现代民间绘画奠基人，著名民间美术评论家廖开明表示：“北辰的党政领导对画乡的工作、建设给予了高度重视。”他认为，在把握方向、经费、人员、物质的保障上，当地政府给予了大力的支持，北辰画乡才得以蓬勃健康地发展。
北辰农民画的“出海”之旅
如今，走进北辰区文化馆的展馆，可以看见馆藏的3000余幅色彩鲜明、造型生动的农民画，它们既属于北辰，属于中国，也属于世界。20世纪80年代，北辰农民画一度风靡于国外，深受使馆外交官喜爱。著名画家、农民画传人、原北辰区文化馆研究馆员张为民表示，天津的农民画购画者多是外国人，他们的选画标准有的是满足自己喜好，有的则是购买中国特色的纪念品回国赠送友人。
“农民画受欢迎，一方面因为它与西方稚拙派画作间存在共性，西方美术界将中国农民画定性为‘东方毕加索’。”何小宝说。西方的稚拙画家出现于20世纪初叶，大多没受过专业美术教育，画作风格天真古朴，不受羁绊。中国的农民画画家亦是如此。“北辰农民画较为具象地呈现了中国的变迁和时代的特点，这也是很多外国人对北辰农民画感兴趣的原因。”
据悉，北辰农民画多次赴瑞典、挪威、美国、韩国、意大利等国展出，百余件作品被国内外国家级博物馆收藏，万余件作品被国内外艺术馆及个人收藏。
尽管如此，北辰农民画的“出海”之旅并非一帆风顺。
何小宝指出，受疫情反复、农民画创作者群体较少等因素影响，近年来北辰农民画的国际交流形势尚存缺憾。“但我们有希望在未来继续推进国际交流。”他说。
北辰农民画画家、原北辰文化馆研究员、北辰农民画的推动者张为民以及北辰农民画画家丰爱东老师经常受邀为外国友人讲学，传授农民画技法。
守正创新，坚守传承
在时光的轮转中发展至今，不难看出北辰农民画所依附的生态环境已然发生改变。现代商品市场难以打开，事业发展与所需财力扶持之间的矛盾等是横跨在农民画发展之路上的大山。然而，北辰农民画一直在求创新之路，在探索之中不断前进。
“北辰区政府一直高度重视北辰农民画发展，认为农民画最能代表北辰特色。”天津市北辰区文化馆副馆长杨健总结了北辰农民画传承的主要助推力，“通过和北辰市教育系统合作、大力推进农民画进校园活动；已经申报市级非遗项目、未来持续推动农民画多渠道传承与发展。”
据悉，天津市北辰区双口小学已经将农民画纳入课堂教学内容，农民画课程吸引了300余名学生参与；双口小学、天津市北辰区李咀小学2所学校添置了专门的农民画教材。北辰农民画这一传统的民间艺术正在下一代的传承中筑牢根基。
何小宝展望了北辰农民画发展的未来。“希望加强对现代民间绘画骨干的辅导、培养，尽可能提高画乡之间的现代民间绘画交流，开展各种各样的现代民间绘画活动，寻求现代农民绘画商品市场新商机，让民间绘画走进校园、走进课堂，建立起现代民间绘画发展中的领军人物机制和激励机制。”
随着中国现代化进程不断加快，农民画几经沉浮，始终保持着质朴、明快的民生风格，农民画依然姓“农”。在守正创新中求发展，北辰农民画一直在路上。
Beichen sticks to its farmer painting roots
Tradition born in the 1950s remains strong in Tianjin
Nongminhua, or farmer painting, a popular school of painting developed by Chinese farmers, has been thriving in northern Tianjin's Beichen district since the late 1970s, and numerous training courses and activities have flourished there in recent decades.
He Xiaobao, associate researcher at the Beichen Culture Palace in Tianjin, shows local residents how to create anongminhua, or farmer painting.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China on July 1, 100 top works painted by local residents were exhibited at the Beichen Cultural Palace. They were selected from more than 200 pieces submitted by enthusiastic artists.
Some primary schools, including Shuangkou and Lizui, have included farmer painting courses into their art curriculum and offer tailor-made teaching materials to help students appreciate and continue the art form.
"Beichen has devoted great effort, including human resources and funds, to supporting the art form's sustainable development," said Liao Kaiming, a writer on folk art and former director of the National Art Museum of China's Folk Art Department.
Exhibitions of works by students have often been featured on major TV programs, including on China Central Television, and in newspapers. Last October, Beichen asked the district's leading artists to create new farmer painting works inspired by its urban scenery and held seminars on the art form.
The Road to a Moderately Prosperous Town, another work by He Xiaobao.
Until the pandemic, biennial competitions and exhibitions were regularly organized by the Beichen Culture Palace, attracting artists and fans from across the country.
The kind of effort is rarely seen any more in other national-level folk art towns, nominated by the Ministry of Culture in the 1980s, when the popularity of the genre was at its peak.
While folk art is fading elsewhere, its momentum in Beichen is rising, and awareness and appreciation ofnongminhuahas spread from farmers to primary school students, police, and community workers.
"The paintings are rooted in real life, a straightforward expression of the artists' hearty feelings, their outlook and perspectives, using skills that can be mastered without much difficulty," said He Xiaobao, associate researcher at the Beichen Culture Palace and a renowned farmer painting creator.
The art form became popular in the late 1950s and developed a solid foundation with grassroots farmers because it didn't require specialized abilities, and its use of striking colors was popular with rural communities.
"In addition, compared to traditional Chinese painting,nongminhuacontains no strong connotations. Farmers who are fond of paper-cutting and embroidery can integrate those skills into their paintings, making it even more popular," He said.
The 36-year-old, who was previously a painter of traditional Chinese paintings, also said that in the 1980s,nongminhuaworks were frequently purchased by foreign embassies.
"Maybe because Beichen is near Beijing, many foreign diplomats purchased our paintings," he said.
To date,nongminhuaexhibitions have been held in Sweden, Norway, the United States, South Korea and Italy.
More than 100 pieces are on display in museums abroad, and more than 10,000 pieces were sold to galleries or individuals outside China.
Zhang Weimin, 58, anongminhuapainter and a key inheritor of the school, as well as a former researcher at the Beichen Cultural Palace, said that collectors are mainly foreigners, some of whom sent the paintings home as gifts.
Zhang was famous for promoting the school at grassroots communities at home and abroad.
He Xiaobao added that Westerners have a taste fornongminhuabecause it resembles Naive Art, the work of artists who lack or reject conventional expertise in the representation or depiction of real objects, and that some commentators have touted the paintings as the work of "Asian Picassos".
"After the pandemic, I hope to boost its presence overseas, to better tell Chinese stories to the world," He said.
Yang Jian, deputy curator of the Beichen Cultural Palace, said: "We have supportednongminhuafor decades. The palace will continue to support the art form's effort to become registered as a national intangible cultural heritage, and find different ways of increasing its influence."
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