The Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA; ; also known as Guangzhou Institute of Fine Arts) is a Chinese national university based in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

which provides doctoral, master and bachelor's degrees in fine arts and design.

History

Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts established in 1953 as the Central South China Fine Arts School, which consisted of the South China Literature & Arts College, Central South China Literature & Arts Institute and the Fine Arts Department of Guangxi Art Institute. It was initially based in

Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, and then relocated to Guangzhou and renamed the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1958. The undergraduate course was offered in 1958 and the postgraduate courses were subsequently offered in 1978. The postgraduate M.F.A. degree course was established in 1982. GAFA is one of the first authorised institutions to award M.F.A degrees in the whole of China. In 1986 it started to enroll students from foreign countries and overseas Chinese students and students from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. In 2005, it was one of the first academies in China to offer the

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

. In 2010, it was named a candidate for a PhD program by Guangdong Provincial Department of Education. The academy consists of School of Traditional Chinese Painting, School of

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, School of

Industrial Design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

, School of Visual Communication and Media Design, School of

Art Education Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practic ...

, School of

Arts and Humanities The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

, College of

Continuing Education Continuing education (similar to further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland) is an all-encompassing term within a broad list of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United ...

, and Section of

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Student Population

There is a total student population of more than 7,600 and consists of *5,127 regular undergraduate students *462 full-time

graduate students Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

*60 serving graduate students *1,960 students of

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

Campus

The academy consists of Changgang Campus and University Town Campus and occupies an area of 564 mu (92.9 acres) and the floor space totals 362,500 square meters. The library contains art books, journals, replicas, rubbings of ancient bronze and stone carvings, and rare thread-bound Chinese books. It has a collection of more than 400,000 books, 157,000 electronic books, and 15 databases. The school has three galleries totalling 2,000 meters and a sculpture exhibition occupying 1,015 square meters. The library contains more than 10,000 pieces of rare works of art dating back to the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

and includes modern works.

Controversy

On Monday, July 20, 2015, the curator/chief librarian of the academy was charged with corruption. The librarian swapped the landscapes and calligraphies of 17th and 20th-century Chinese artists, namely

Zhang Daqian Chang Dai-chien or Zhang Daqian (; 10 May 1899 – 2 April 1983) was one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century. Originally known as a '' guohua'' (traditionalist) painter, by the 1960s he was also renowned ...

Qi Baishi Qi Baishi (1 January 1864 – 16 September 1957) was a Chinese painter, noted for the whimsical, often playful style of his works. Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi taught himself to paint, sparked by the Manual of the Musta ...

, and

Zhu Da Bada Shanren (; 1626 – 1705), born Zhu Da (), was a Chinese Buddhist monk, calligrapher, and painter of the ink wash painting style. He was of royal descent, being a direct offspring of the Ming dynasty prince Zhu Quan who had a feudal establi ...

, with his own forgeries. He chose the easier works of art that were capable of being forged over a weekend and avoided the well-known pieces. From between 2004 and 2006, Xiao Yuan removed 143 paintings and auctioned 125 of them, earning him 34 million yuan (US$5.48 million).

China Guardian China Guardian Auctions Co. Ltd., or simply China Guardian (), is a mainland Chinese auction house that specialises in the auction of Chinese artwork of all types. It is particularly known for its sale of Chinese calligraphy and ink paintings. Fi ...

and

Zhejiang Yitong Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

, both auction houses, were mentioned in court as having played a role in the selling of the artwork though none were accused of wrongdoing.

References

External links

Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Official Website
{{authority control Universities and colleges in Guangzhou Educational institutions established in 1953 1953 establishments in China Art schools in China Academy of Art University