On March 22, the final list of the National Arts Fund 2023 funding projects was officially announced. “Inheritance, Innovation, Development: The Touring Exhibition of Chinese Traditional Furniture interpreting Contemporary Classic Works”, project of the team led by Professor Niu Xiaoting and Academician Li Jian, was awarded the key support from the National Arts Fund for Communication and Promotion Projects.

Approved by the State Council and established in the year of 2013, the CNAF is a public welfare fund aimed at fostering artistic creation, creating and promoting original masterpieces, cultivating artistic creative talents, and promoting the healthy development of the national arts. In 2023, the National Arts Fund has identified a total of 703 funding projects, including 122 large-scale stage plays and works creation projects, 102 small-scale plays (programs) and works creation projects, 111 art creation projects, 119 communication and promotion projects, 101 artistic talent training projects, and 148 young artistic creation talent projects. A total of 10 projects in Heilongjiang Province have been funded, of which only two are communication and exchange promotion projects.

The NEFU project aims to promote fine traditional Chinese culture, tell China’s stories well and cultivate innovative furniture design talents in the new era. Designed after the reform and opening period and focused on the past 10 years, and demonstrating the craftsmanship spirit and cultural confidence, 100 pieces of Chinese traditional furniture were selected for a national touring exhibition of interpreting the contemporary classic works. The project is fully demonstrating the artistic beauty, structural beauty, morphological beauty and technical beauty of Chinese traditional furniture interpreting contemporary classic works, and implementing the spirit of 20th CPC National Congress report with practical actions.

The theme of the exhibition is divided into three parts, namely “Inheriting the Classics”, “Creating and Innovating”, and “Looking into the Future”. Among them, 40 are contemporary classic works of traditional Chinese furniture, 40 are contemporary innovative classic works reflecting the spirit of fine Chinese traditional culture, and 20 are contemporary innovative works of students guided by famous teachers showing future design trends.

The approval of this project can effectively stimulate NEFU’s art education, creative design, cultural inheritance and the design talent training, help the popularization and promotion of the fine Chinese traditional woodworking culture, and contribute to the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese traditional furniture art.