How to cultivate art management talents with international vision, interdisciplinary background and rich industrial practice? How to understand "Seek conformity but no uniformity" in Chinese and western art? How to interpret the art topic "the storm in the teacup"? The morning of November 29 witnessed a grand opening of the Art exhibition “Somewhere in Time ", organized by USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and co-sponsored by Spring Art Museum. Six world-famous international Art scholars were invited by ICCI Art Valley of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to attend the opening ceremony. More than 100 art teachers and students, visiting art scholars, curators and collectors in Shanghai attended the opening ceremony. An academic seminar on Chinese and western art was held during the same period which focused on the "Three Key Questions Regarding Art"-- what the artist's mission is, what the direction of art education is, and where the future of art belongs. Established artists Sun Liang, Wu Liang, Zhao Song, Li Xiaofeng, Liao Liao and other well-known artists and art critics participated in the discussion.

60 Days of Creation by International Resident Art Scholars, Somewhere In Time Art Exhibitions Emphasized Seek Conformity But No Uniformity

On the basis of the successful launching of the first Somewhere in Time ICCI Art Valley exhibition at USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University last year, the second Somewhere in Time Art Exhibition of 2019 received a bigger welcome and success. Somewhere in Time Art Exhibition of 2019 focused on the MFA program of ICCI, and thus 6 scholars with international art education background were invited, who were Chinese art laboratory project managers and Harvard University postdoctoral researcher YU Gan, Germany Keso Arts College professor YANG Qi, a Spanish artist Juan OLIVARES, Russian contemporary abstract artist Andrey VOLKOV, Austria Haydn music professor Matthias ADENSAMER, Mary o 'Malley, graduate from Royal College of Art.

Weimin ZHANG, dean of USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and curator of the exhibition, said that the six artists who participated in the exhibition were helping to communicate between the Chinese and western arts. The artists were established in various forms of art, and used their unique vision and insight to tell new thoughts and new visions with real life existence and strong expression of desire. They have integrated the ultimate "beauty" with painting, music and the world, where they combined the different understandings of "beauty" in China and the west, the different information from ancient to modern times, and the different stages of life. All of these became a part of their artistic lives.

USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University Launched a MFA Program to Explore a New Training Mode of Art Talents

Since its establishment nearly five years ago, USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University has been adhering to the teaching philosophy of "Internationalization, Interdisciplinary and Industry-Orientation" and taking "Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Creativity" as its training goal. Created by USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ICCI Art Valley aimed to carry out art education practice with cultural and creative thinking, innovate the cultivation mode of art management talents in comprehensive universities, improve the level of public artistic literacy, and build an art ecosystem featured by the integrated development of culture industry, industry and education.

In conjunction with the MFA program, six students of USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University were recruited as project directors to participate in a series of practical activities such as work creation, curation, exhibition arrangement, art performance and art lecture. The students also write the script, tracked the whole process of the artist's creation, hired a film and television instructor, and eventually created an artistic creation education documentary.

"An excellent art manager should not only have a solid artistic aesthetic sense, and an understanding of the intention of the audience, but also he needs to know how to use technology to enable the expression of artistic content. That is, how to accurately promote the art market, and how to achieve the commercial success." Weimin ZHANG also said, "With the arrival of the digital art wave, art management practitioners must have a global industrial vision, understand the means of art technology, and understand the operation of the art market. This is where comprehensive universities boasting the inherent advantages with innovative art management education."

Next year marks the 5th anniversary of the establishment of USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. MFA will start its recruitment of the first class of MFA students. It is believed that USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University will offer more practice-based courses and exhibitions for its MFA students.

Art Scholars Promoted All-Round Public Interaction and Enhanced Public Aesthetics of Public Art

Social service is the natural mission of every university and every scholar. In addition to the art creation and art education in the ivory tower, resident art scholars of ICCI Art Valley, aside from focusing on their creations, also participated in a series of unique cultural and social public art activities.

The artists had their studios open to the public art. They also conducted art workshops on the 2nd Yangtze International Cultural Expo. They also participated in the International Conference on Cooperation and Development of Global Cultural and Creative Industries. Moreover, they also cooperated with Shanghai culture enterprise, online platforms, and delivered online lectures. Wu fan, director of the resident program for international art scholars and a member of teaching faculty at USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the art of the future must be integrated, transboundary and public-oriented. 2019 "ICCI ART VALLEY" project carried out many public lecture activities, such as the Influence of Aesthetic Education to the Masses, Contemporary ART-- the Value of Social Manifestation ff "Abstraction". Every lecture received great welcome and feedback, which reflected that the audiences’ curiosity and thirst for knowledge was growing, and the artistic atmosphere and artistic cultivation prospered.

Gan YU, a representative of art scholars, project manager and postdoctoral researcher of the Chinese art laboratory of Harvard University, said that he was impressed by the  culture and creativity of USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He believed that USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University would bring an unprecedented innovation in art education to the society!

"Does art have a future? No, the future is about art." Weimin ZHANG said at the seminar, "based on the strategic understanding that talent development must precede the industry development, USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University is committed to cultivate the necessary talents. We are in Shanghai, an international metropolis; we are in an era of developing art science and technology. USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry of Shanghai Jiao Tong University boasts all the advantages with geographical location, population size, various disciples. We are committed to innovate and promote art, to cultivate talents and eventually, to give back to the industry and society.