Cui Donghui, the Vice Dean of the School of Architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, served as the artistic consultant for the 2024 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Leading a team, they incorporated distinctive patterns and motifs from traditional Chinese culture into the creative program "Nian Jin" and the backdrop design "Long Teng Jiu Zhou" for the Loong Year Gala. These artistic designs aim to present patterns infused with good wishes and folk wisdom to the nationwide audience.

This project aligns closely with the Central Academy of Fine Arts' initiative to contribute to the construction of modern Chinese civilization. The team adheres to the school party committee's goals for contemporary research, emphasizing organized artistic creation and research. By exploring the historical and cultural concerns of Chinese culture, the team utilizes modern visual artistic techniques involving patterns, space, and visual effects. This approach aims to create new artworks and achievements that reflect cultural confidence in the new era. Throughout the creative process, the team leverages the school's strengths in combining teaching, industry, and research, employing a mentor-graduate student model to establish a new research pattern that serves society in the new era. The goal is to produce outstanding works that showcase the spirit of Chinese aesthetics and embody the aesthetic style of China on the fertile ground of excellent traditional culture.

01 Pattern design of ”Nian Jin”

The CCTV Spring Festival Gala's creative program "Nian Jin" is dedicated to presenting a scientific and rigorous spectacle. To achieve this, the gala's directing team invited the 93-year-old Dunhuang art and arts and crafts design expert, Ms. Chang Sha'na, to serve as the artistic consultant. Additionally, Ms. Chang Sha'na's son, Cui Donghui, the Vice Dean of the School of Architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, was invited to undertake the pattern design.

After researching and summarizing the historical development of patterns, Cui Donghui's team extracted, organized, and designed traditional patterns from the iconic Han, Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties. These patterns were then hand-drawn by Ms. Chang Sha'na and underwent numerous refinements over three months. Finally, the main visual patterns representing each dynasty in the creative program "Nian Jin" were confirmed.

█ In the sketches: vivid, lively, dynamic.

Ms. Chang Sha'na emphasized the importance of "vividness, liveliness, and variation" while individually hand-drawing each pattern. She expressed the need for hierarchy and stressed the significance of "learning, researching, and applying" traditional Chinese patterns. According to her, these patterns convey good wishes, and incorporating them into the Spring Festival Gala stage is a way for the gala to extend blessings to all viewers.

█ A masterpiece conveying the meaning of happiness and prosperity, the 'Grand New Year Tapestry.'

Cui Donghui's team distilled the basic composition from Dunhuang murals and patterns, adhering to the format of traditional Chinese patterns, creating the composition of the 'Grand New Year Tapestry.' It seamlessly integrates into the final design of 'Nian Jin.'

█ The 'Four Dynasties' pattern unfolds on the stage

█ Appreciation of the artistic design and color palette system inspired by patterns

02 The design of the host's background setting

The design of the background setting for the Loong Year Spring Festival Gala at the main stage draws inspiration from the concept of 'Three Mountains and Five Great Peaks.' It abstracts the 'Five Great Peaks' from the map of China to create the spatial structure of the scene. Merging this with the theme of 'Long Teng Jiu Zhou' the team artisticizes the landscape into the composition of the setup. The team incorporates elements like the 'Hongshan Culture Jade Loong,' 'Hook Cloud Pattern,' 'Sunshine on the Golden Mountain,' and more as visual cores, presenting the infinite vitality of Chinese traditional culture in the form of a modern installation.

Article Source：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/cVyDIXjX1cOcNDJsDdeCyA