This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing in 1995. China will soon host the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women in Beijing. To mark the occasion, China Female Artists Association (CFAA), as a group member of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), will be using art to help women artists in China step onto a broader stage.
Recently, Women of China English Monthly interviewed Xu Lian, CFAA's President and Vice-President of China National Academy of Painting. Xu focused on various topics, including the association's mission, artistic creation, cultivation of young talents and international cultural exchanges. She also shared her insights into the development of women's art in China, and how the association, as an ACWF group member, has empowered women artists to contribute to building China into a leading country in culture.
Home for Women Artists
The CFAA works to build platforms for exchanges and interactions among women artists, and to guide them in following the Party (Communist Party of China), and in contributing their strength to building China into a leading country in culture. "Women artists follow a people-centered approach in their creations. Art creation is not only a form of self-expression; it represents the artists' mission of advancing with the times, and of working for the people," says Xu.
The CFAA was approved as a group member of ACWF in 2013. Since then, it has followed the federation's guidance, and it has fulfilled its roles of guiding, serving and connecting with women. CFAA aims to provide a platform for women artists, to enable them to focus on their creative work, and to support each other within the community.
Women artists often face challenges as they try to balance their social roles and artistic pursuits; they are not only creators, but also mothers, daughters and wives. The women's multiple identities make the need for a platform of inclusivity and support all the more essential, Xu says. To put this vision into practice, she adds, CFAA has focused on building a service-oriented platform, which offers exhibition opportunities for women artists, of different ages and artistic styles.
The CFAA, a group member of ACWF, has leveraged its role in assisting the federation in its initiatives, such as establishing an information database for women talents, and strengthening connections among its members and women's organizations.
Paving the Way
"Women have artistic talent, and they are suited for art-related work. However, many women face issues, like ‘confusion in creation' and ‘lack of resources' in practice. As an ACWF group member, we help develop the reserve of women talents, by cultivating young women artists," says Xu. Cultivating young talents is the key to the association's sustainable development, she adds.
The association has always focused on the practical needs of women artists, and it has attached great importance to cultivating artists from the new artist group (artists who are self-taught and/or not from professional academic backgrounds). Through training, field trips and mentorship programs, these artists are given opportunities to learn, faceto-face, with masters. "There are many talented women from the new artist group, but they lack resources and platforms. We have a responsibility to ‘build ladders' for them," Xu says.
She believes artistic creation cannot be replaced with "assembly–line production," and she says it is important for teachers and students to have face-to-face exchanges. To this end, the association plans to provide more learning opportunities to young artists — especially women artists from the new artist group — through thematic lectures, salons, training sessions and master classes.
The association also plans to organize field trips and creative activities, and it will invite outstanding women artists to lead teams, in an effort to enhance young artists' creative skills through observation and learning. Additionally, the association will host exhibitions, which will accommodate artists of varying levels of skill, to allow more people to appreciate the charm of China's women artists.
Xu began hosting an exhibition, "The Country and Its People — Invitational Exhibition of Works by Outstanding Chinese Women Artists in New Era," in September.
The exhibition, scheduled to conclude in October, is being held in East China's Shanghai Municipality. Xu says the exhibition will help viewers understand — through art — women's unique roles in advancing social progress, promoting national development and safeguarding world peace.
Promoting Cultural Exchanges
"Promoting international cultural exchanges will always be a focus of the association's work," says Xu. She believes exchanges not only showcase works of art, but, more importantly, tell the stories of Chinese women and enable the global community to appreciate the talent of Chinese women, and the beauty of Chinese culture.
"The association will help Chinese women artists take their works ‘global,' and also present a China that is open and inclusive, as a country that advocates peace and development," Xu continues.
She also expects the association, as a social organization, to facilitate ACWF's efforts in promoting women's international exchanges.
Xu believes empathy and two-way interactions are the keys to cultural exchanges. Artistic exchanges foster mutual learning and integration. "We plan to host exhibitions, with overseas artists, in the future, and we plan to promote exchanges and mutual learning among artists, from both home and abroad," says Xu.
The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind is vital to solving global issues and guiding human's future development, Xu says. Many women artists in China are using art to facilitate equality, development and peace, and to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. For example, Li Chuanzhen has long focused on groups of laborers, and her works have centered on humanistic care. Pan Ying has made portraits of many outstanding women pioneers, which have demonstrated the inheritance of women's strength.
When asked about the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in art creation, Xu says, "AI-generated art cannot reflect the core value of art, which is the artists' real-life experiences. We should remain committed to presenting humanity in our works." She hopes, through communications and exchanges, the global community will see Chinese women artists' profound insights into the relationship between technology and humanity.
Women Advancing with Times
"In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action proclaimed women's rights are human rights, and China announced gender equality is a fundamental national policy. These left a deep impression on me," Xu recalls.
In the 30 years since 1995, along with China's rapid economic development and allround social progress, women in China have achieved major breakthroughs, in terms of their rights in education, art and other fields. Women artists now account for 60-70 percent, or even more, in the field of art education. To celebrate "Beijing+30," CFAA has mobilized women artists — through their brushstrokes — to integrate the conference's spirit into art creation, and to make the concepts of equality, development and peace radiate more vividly in the new era.
An exhibition, "Women Advancing with the Times — Exhibition on Excellent Works by Contemporary Chinese Women Artists," is scheduled to open in October. The exhibition, planned and hosted by CFAA, will be held in the Art Museum of China National Academy of Painting, in Beijing.
"This is a major exhibition, held to celebrate the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women, and the event will be held under the guidance of ACWF's Publicity Department," says Xu.
The event is being supported by the China Artists Association, the China National Academy of Painting and the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Works, including Chinese paintings, oil paintings, prints, watercolor and gouache paintings, calligraphies, sculptures and comprehensive materials, will be on display.
The works of art will be divided into five chapters: "Country and Family: Dedication," "Style of the Times: Beauty," "Women in Work: Diligence" "Sunshine in October: Life" and, "Openness and Inclusiveness: Harmonious Coexistence."
The works will present the breakthroughs and achievements by Chinese women in the fields of art, culture, society and science and technology during the past 30 years. Each chapter will be a vivid interpretation of the concepts of women's rights and gender equality advocated by the Fourth World Conference on Women.
"We are highlighting women's subjectivity and collective strength. Women promote the country's development, they are workers, they are mothers, they represent beauty, and they are practitioners of peace and inclusiveness," Xu says.
Exhibitions, with the same theme, will also be staged in Heilongjiang Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Hebei Province and other regions, allowing more women's works to be presented.
"Beijing+30" is not only about "looking back," but also about "inheritance." Ensuring the conference's spirit is inherited by young women artists is also an important mission of CFAA. Xu says young women artists should assume the "relay baton," interpret the spirit through artistic creation, and continue to promote equality, development and peace. "Young artists do not need to deliberately flaunt their gender, but naturally reveal women's subjectivity in their creations. They should not avoid mentioning their identity, but also not be bound by their identity," Xu adds.
By staging domestic exhibitions and hosting international exchanges, and by connecting well-known artists to supporting the new artist group, CFAA is fulfilling its role as a group member of ACWF, with solid actions. The power of art may be small, Xu says, but it can communicate people's emotions, shorten the distance between people's hearts, and bring hearts closer together. Such emotional communication is vital for a family, a country, and even for all of humanity.
What lies ahead for CFAA? "We hope to become a social organization that is trusted by the government, recognized by society, and satisfies its members," Xu says. "As a group member of ACWF, we will always remember our original aspiration of serving women and contributing to society. We will help more women artists become known by the public, and the world, and we will demonstrate the talent and wisdom of Chinese women with paintbrushes, and contribute to building China into a leading country in culture, and to the cause of gender equality."
Photos by Zhang Jiamin
(Women of China English Monthly September 2025)
Editor: Wang Shasha
