“Is there any requirement about the board that has lacquer paintings painted on? Does Xinjiang produce such materials?” Minawar Mutallip stopped making farmer’s lacquer painting on a board to answer the questions asked by the audience at the Fujian exhibition hall of the 2022 ‘Xinjiang is a Wonderful Land’ Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition held in Urumqi, showcasing intangible cultural heritage items from 19 provinces or municipalities that offer pairing assistance to Xinjiang as well as from Xinjiang. (Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Jia Chunxia)

Photo shows Minawar paints farmer’s lacquer painting. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Jia Chunxia)

What makes the audience interested is not only the novel artistic style of farmer’s lacquer painting, but also Minawar Mutallip dressed in Atlas silk, an exhibitor mastering the bodiless lacquer decoration skills originated from Fuzhou City and as well as a person in charge of an innovating lacquer project.

“I am a Daolang farmer painter from Maigaiti County. After I learned lacquer painting in Fuzhou, I create farmer’s lacquer painting now,” said Minawar proudly.

Farmer’s lacquer painting is a brand new artistic style sparked by and integrated with farmer’s painting and lacquer painting. It is a lively historic cultural heritage. Since 2016, relying on the advantage of the Fuzhou bodiless lacquer decoration skills, a representative item of state-level intangible cultural heritage, the Art Museum of Fujian Province has implemented a number of farmer’s lacquer painting training experimental sessions with trainees from across China.

In 2017, the lacquer painting training session was recruiting a trainee from Xinjiang, and Minawar as a Daolang farmer painter was recommended to go to Fujian Province to participate in the training that lasted for more than one month. In 2018, she participated in the advanced training course on China farmer’s paining at the Xiamen Academy of Arts Design in Fujian University. Through these two training, Minawar integrated farmer’s painting with the Fuzhou bodiless lacquer decoration skills, improving both art and market values of her works.

Photo shows a farmer’s lacquer painting ‘Daolang Women Band’ by Minawar. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/Jia Chunxia)

“Integrating lacquer skills with the unpretentious Daolang farmer’s painting is like dressing fancy clothes on farmer’s paintings. One of my farmer’s painting was sold over 10,000 yuan before, which was the highest price of my works. Now however, one of my farmer’s lacquer paintings is valued by experts as high as 100,000 yuan, and another work is valued at 8,000 yuan,” said Minawar happily.

Following where Minawar was pointing, the reporter saw the painting named ‘Daolang Women Band’ on the wall, which shows seven Daolang women in fancy dresses: the three in the front sit together and play instruments, and the four in the back sing and dance, forming a lively and joyful scene. It was very impressive.

Chen Xiumei, the director of the Art Museum of Fujian Province said, the integration of farmer’s painting and Fujian lacquer skills is the integration of ruggedness and delicacy, of flamboyance and elegance, of plain and exquisiteness. It gives the respective potentials into full play while enriching the connotations of farmer’s painting and lacquer art, inheriting and carrying forward the fine traditional Chinese culture.

The integration of farmer’s painting and lacquer painting also enlivens Xinjiang’s Daolang farmer’s painting. “Two farmer’s lacquer paintings, ‘Daolang Women Band’ and ‘Happiness in the Desert’, have been collected by the Art Museum of Fujian Province,” said Minawar. Since she learned lacquer painting in Fujian, she has become more and more well-known there, which offers her more and more platforms to show her works. Among them, the farmer’s lacquer painting ‘Sheep Bazaar in Maigaiti County’ jointly created by her and He Suxian from the Art Museum of Fujian Province was listed in the primary exhibition of the 13th National Art Exhibition in July, 2019, and in the same year, her work ‘Oasis in Desert’ won the third prize in the National Farmer’s Painting Exhibition themed "Magnificent 70th Anniversary" held in Nanjing...

Photo shows Minawar introduces farmer’s lacquer paintings for an audience. (Photo by Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily/ Jia Chunxia)

Minawar said, in the future, she will create more farmer’s lacquer paintings to show the Daolang songs and dances and the thriving life of her hometown, and express the happiness and beauty of Xinjiang to more people.

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