Qijiang farmers' journey into creative fields

"At that time, to be able to earn this money was something a farmer wouldn't even dare to dream of."

Then Li Chengzhi got a job in the local farmers' printmaking institute the same year. She got married and relocated to town, actively contributing to the preservation and development of the intangible cultural heritage.

Her sheer passion for art has made her highly productive — creating more than 200 printmaking artworks and thousands of hand-drawn illustrations by far.

In 2010, Li Chengzhi was honored as one of China's Top 10 Folk Painters by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Artists Association. Three of her works were selected in 2012, 2017 and 2020 for the National Farmer Painting Exhibition organized by the China Artists Association, and she obtained membership. In 2013, another of her work, Five-Colored Slope, won gold at the 5th Xiuzhou China Farmers' Painting Art Festival.

"Their creations manifest their yearning for a better life," says director of Qijiang Farmers' Printmaking Institute Liu Yue, adding that the works, which usually draw inspiration from daily life of local people and also wild imaginations, present a distinctive, exaggerated, romantic and pure artistic style.