By Tu Chenxin and d Han Jing
Recent university graduates may be struggling to find jobs, but there is one department of the China Academy of Art that is seeing surprisingly high employment rates; the Department of Print-making.
The students in this department are regarded as some of the top-achieving students and are highly sought after upon graduation.
Cao Xiaoyang, the deputy director of the Department of Print-making, cites "The White Horse" that is on display in the academy's art gallery as a representation of the high level of work students do.
"As I look at this work, I feel like I'm actually in their dream,”"Cao said.
The piece was created in 2006 by a student from the post-80s generation, or children born after 1980.
Many people in this generation believe that there are many uncertainties in the future.
Unlike older generations, they usually expect to find a whole new world ahead of them, but many students in this generation face the prospect of potential unemployment.
Print-making, a traditional art form which was popular more than 70 years ago, seems to have become a less popular career option for most people as digital media becomes more mainstream.
“But you cannot imagine that the employment rate of students majoring in print-making is one of the highest,” said Han Likun, former director of the department.
Actually, the students from the department are trained in almost every field in the arts.
They have a very good foundation in color and sketching. Those who shifted to oil painting or graphic design can easily qualify to be an art teacher.
Han said that the representatives of the Oriental Art Department of the British Museum have come to the exhibitions to view the print-making works. “The level of Chinese print-making is high, and the best works we have seen in China are in Hangzhou,” he said.
Kong Guoqiao, the director of the Department of Print-making, said the school started the department because Hangzhou is considered the origin of Chinese print-making.
A group of Hangzhou artists held a print-making exhibition in Shanghai in 1931.
This tradition was continued in 1954, when the Department or Print-making was launched in the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.
