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The man who traces local history
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Liu Fuzhong
ZHANG XUEFENG arrived in our city to encounter a common belief.
"When I first arrived in Shenzhen, people told me that I'd landed in a cultural desert. But I told them that every city has its cultural riches. You have to find them out and present them to the world," Zhang, co-designer of the stamps commemorating the city's 20th anniversary, recently told Shenzhen Daily.
"As an artist, I felt an obligation to change people's bias against Shenzhen's cultural development. As I made deeper research into the local history, I was almost possessed by the desire to present it convincingly to those who do not know much about the city."
Zhang graduated from the Zhejiang Arts Institute, where he majored in wood-carving painting. The pursuit of the pure art and unique expression of his artistic vision, to a certain extent, cut him off from the real world.
"I had a rude awakening when I arrived in Shenzhen. I suddenly understood that art must be enriched with life," he said.
He had a humble job as a pattern designer for a Hong Kong T-shirt company. Yet even this small job helped him understand popular tastes and completely changed his idealistic vision of art.
"I began to search for subjects of my art," he said.
He joined the Shenzhen Museum and made delved into the local history, something which inspired him to create. He held his first art exhibition in 1994. And ever since then, he has been a lead designer for almost all major art exhibitions held in the city.
In 1999, he designed and organized the Ancient Shenzhen Exhibition, which presented relics and pictures from almost 7,000 years ago.
"Shenzhen is a city of immigrants with a history of only two decades. But that does not mean Shenzhen has no history. I want to show to people that Shenzhen, like all other cities in China, has rich culture and history."
His vision and effort brought him fame and also the glorious task of designing the city's first commemorative stamps, which were seen by many as a sign that Shenzhen had come of age.
"Certainly I view it as an important accomplishment for myself. But I also believe my research into the local history contributed to the formation of a fair understanding to the city I love." He said.
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