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A New Art Museum Opens for Countryside Visitors in Xiaoshan
2025-06-13 15:12 浏览量:3     Source:Hangzhou China      

Yunshi-Shanfang (House of Clouds, Stones and Mountains) Rural Art Museum, primarily designed by Sheng Chaofang, a provincial-level cultural envoy, officially opened in Shencun Village, Daicun Town, Xiaoshan District. The opening coincided with his premiered exhibition “Between Crop and Screen - Shen Chaofang’s Film Art Exhibition.”


Located opposite to Shen Peilan’s Former Residence, the Museum is the first key project initiated by Shen himself after he moved into the village. Upholding the philosophy of being “small yet beautiful and exquisite,” the architecture ingeniously mimics a residence of conventional Jiang’nan area that markedly features white walls and black tiles. Inside, it employs exposed concrete and original wooden structures to create a minimalist space. This is a dialogue between old and new design languages, making the building itself a three-dimensional exhibit interpreting the “rural aesthetics.”


As one of the first cultural envoys assigned to Xiaoshan by the provincial authority, Shen Chaofang, a teacher from Zhejiang Media College, discovered upon moving into the village that the southern Xiaoshan was not the stereotypical “declining countryside” but rather a hidden paradise. He worked out a two-year rural culture development action plan, which includes establishing the Museum and producing a film on the eight towns of southern Xiaoshan.


The inaugural exhibition “Between Crop and Screen” expounds Shen’s probe into the film art and rural films with his sketches, videos, and installations. In his view, this is not just an exhibition but a cultural manifesto about contemporary rural China: “villages do not need to be ‘saved’ but they must be seen anew, and culture does not require ‘poverty alleviation’ but only requires being activated with belief and sincerity.


Serving as a new rural cultural space integrating residential traditions with modern art, the Museum is not only a cultural landmark of Daicun Town but a good, indigenous practice that helps activate the culture in countryside. Next, the Museum will host high-quality exhibitions year-round, open rural art classes, and make itself a local art center. This will be a replicable model for rural revitalization with the drive of “aesthetics” and more.