“Then & Now: 2020 CAFA Online Graduation Season” was officially launched on https://art2020.cafa.edu.cn at 5:20 pm on May 20, the postgraduate thesis presentations were unveiled. On June 15, the Graduation Exhibition of Undergraduates will be unveiled.
The “2020 CAFA Online Graduation Season” will present over 10,000 graduation works by 31 Ph.D candidates, 376 postgraduate students and 846 undergraduate students. The exhibition will be presented in 9 virtual galleries with a total area of 54000 square meters in the virtual art museum of CAFA. Over 20,000-30,000 works will be fully displayed in the form of web pages through the “hyperlink” of each student. More importantly, this is a “2020 Graduation Art Museum of CAFA” which will be fixed on the internet and will never go offline.
THEN & NOW, BIRTH IN SPRING & GROWTH IN SUMMER
—A Speech for 2020 CAFA Online Graduation Season, By Fan Di’an, President of CAFA on 20 May, 2020
The spring and summer of 2020 are destined to become a particular memory for all. The global pandemic of COVID-19 has aroused sadness in mourning the loss of lives and brave songs that fight to prevent and control the virus, all of which reverberate throughout earth. Confronted with such a sudden catastrophe, it seems hard for art to narrate the complicated situation but artists ultimately have affection and faith. The Central Academy of Fine Art (abbr. CAFA) has comprehensively conducted online teaching. With a joint effort from all the teachers and students, we overcome the difficulties caused by the pandemic through sincere artistic feelings and firm artistic obligations. We hold fast to the teaching positions, among which the most precious are the perseverance and endeavor of all graduating students and their supervisors. With excellent thesis presentations and achievements, they jointly won a collective glory for CAFA and a self-fulfilling journey for themselves. All of the thesis presentations therefore have their own unique connotations and testify to the national fight against the pandemic in artistic ways.
Ever since the establishment of “CAFA Graduation Season” in 2015, CAFA has established a grand talent festival of art by turning the campus into a great art museum. A broad platform is established for the display of works from diversified disciplines and schools of CAFA, and it further becomes a bridge to disseminate the achievements in talent training and promotes the employment and entrepreneurship of graduating students. Although 2020 CAFA Graduation Season cannot be implemented on-site at the CAFA Art Museum and other venues, CAFA has decided to use the online exhibition to present the talent shows of graduating students and repay the concerns of society. The complete preparation process was full of expectation and creativity.
Despite the rapid changes that occurred to internet technologies, there are no established rules for online art exhibitions and visual art galleries. In order to provide a comfortable display and appreciative experience as perfectly as possible, the curatorial team of CAFA and many teachers from various departments and schools have devoted great effort to this, NetDragon Websoft undertook the overall development of this project, nearly 100 employees have been working day and night and their endeavors make the grand exhibitions of the online graduation season become unique and fascinating. The works of graduating students presented in the spacious galleries of CAFA Art Museum, can be appreciated in an immersive way and visitors can change the scenery along their path while observing the momentum and subtleties. Visitors can also open up layers of links to enter the microcosmos of thought as created by each artist. The three-dimensional enrichment and expansion of CAFA Online Graduation Season has exceeded the existing level and added the latest experience to the social communication of contemporary art.
The pandemic has separated us from each other, but it cannot block our communication. The graduation season is the blossom season of the academy. In this year, it particularly sends out a message for firmness of faith and the strength of life. From then to now, from spring to summer, time and space, that and this, all make us feel warm and full of hope:
Then, it was a wonderful time to study in the campus,
Now, it is an exciting moment to enter society.
Then, having the dream of the ivory tower,
Now, walking into the earthly reality.
Then, filled with students’ enthusiasm, they cast all restraints aside,
Now, they are flourishing and striking trends and fads.
Then, youth was brilliant by grinding,
Now, life is sublimated by struggles.
Then, they knew the world through art,
Now, they reflect the world by art.
Then, they saw creations from beauty,
Now, they produce beauty from creations.
Then, the students looked forward to the glory of their alma mater,
Now, CAFA feels delighted with their achievements.
There are two main ways of viewing this online exhibition, namely with a mobile phone or computer. By clicking the link or scanning the QR code, you can enter the virtual venue. You can freely roam, jump, appreciate details, browse videos, play with models by clicking with the mouse or touching the screen of your cell phone. Various models and systems of computers or cell phones might cause different compatibility situations. Therefore, if you have difficulty in visiting it, you can try another device or refresh it.
After entering the virtual museum, visitors can choose any mode from “3D Virtual Graduation Exhibition” or “Online Graduation Exhibition”: if you choose the first one, you can virtually walk and visit the CAFA Art Museum by choosing the online galleries from 1 to 4 to gradually find presentations from various departments and schools; the “Online Graduation Exhibition” is more like an archive, through which you can intuitively understand the situation of thesis presentations from various departments and schools from graphic information.
More Ways to Play👇
🔍Search: Both viewing methods offer a chance to search and browse the work and thesis information by entering the name and student ID through the “search” function on the upper right corner.
➡️Share: Each page supports the function of “share” by clicking the graphic button of “arrow” to share the work with others.
👍Like: Click the red heart ♥️ at the bottom of the page, you can like the work and show your support.
We hope you enjoy this wonderful unique show!
Image Source: 3D Virtual Graduation Exhibition Hall Screenshot
@copyright by CAFA ART
Translated and Edited by Sue and Emily