XI'AN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- When wheat harvesting ends on the plain in northwest China, Caijiapo Village ushers in another busy season.
The village, about an hour's drive from Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, was once a poor and mundane settlement. Today, its post-harvest fields, old houses and farmhouse walls have become open spaces for artists.
From late May to November, an art festival referred to as Mangba brings exhibitions, performances, markets and other public events to this village, adding a new rhythm to rural life after the harvest. Mangba means the work is over in Chinese.
"The art festival itself is a piece of work," said Cui Kaimin, executive director of the festival and a young teacher at Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts.
For Cui, who specializes in experimental art, the "work" is not a painting on a wall or an installation at a gallery. It is a long-term artistic practice growing out of village life.
In recent years, more Chinese artists and art students have been returning to rural areas. They paint on village walls, create installations beside fields, renovate old houses and take part in rural public life. Caijiapo is one example of how contemporary art is finding new ground in China's villages.
This return also echoes a tradition in Chinese art.
Since the 1950s and 60s, many Chinese artists and art students have ventured into villages, factories and production sites, drawing inspiration from farmers, workers and everyday life at grassroots.
Huyi District, where Caijiapo is located, was once an important place for this tradition. In the 1960s, Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts carried out training programs there, helping cultivate a group of young farmers skilled in painting. Their brightly colored works, often depicting rural labor and village life, became known as Huyi farmer paintings.
As China advances agricultural and rural modernization, more artists are returning to the countryside. They are not only documenting rural life, but also combining artistic creation with village space renewal, community activities and industrial development.
Around 2018, Cui and his colleagues returned to the area to study the current state of local farmer paintings.
With agricultural mechanization, wheat harvesting no longer requires as many hands as it once did. As a result, many young villagers have left to work in cities, and some old houses have been left unused. The rural life that once nourished farmer painting was changing. Those changes, in turn, became a new source of artistic inspiration.
In northwest China, after the wheat harvest, farmers visit relatives and friends, exchange farming experiences and celebrate the harvest. The local custom is known as mangba hui, roughly meaning a gathering after the busy farming season.
These words, carrying the smell of soil and harvest, were later brought back to Caijiapo as the name of its arts festival.
Fine arts teachers have also been invited to serve as "art village chiefs," providing artistic models or working with villagers on small installations, wall paintings and the renovation of courtyards, old houses and public spaces.
Along roads in the village, large murals cover the walls of farmhouses, while some idle rural homes have been turned into exhibition halls, activity spaces and places for public gatherings.
Cui said the countryside should not be treated as an empty exhibition hall.
"There is land, there are old houses, villagers, memories and relationships here," he said. "When artists come to the village, they enter a real living scene for creation."
First launched in 2018, the festival is marking its eighth edition this year.
Over the years, it has incubated more than 100 rural creative works, covering visual design, cultural tourism and architectural renovation. From the start of 2024 to May 2025, the festival and related projects won a number of domestic and international awards, including honors from the ADC Annual Awards, D&AD Awards, TDC Annual Awards and FRAME Awards.
"Many works created by teachers have even become representative works in their artistic careers," Cui said.
The practice reflects a growing trend among Chinese universities to take the countryside as a site for artistic creation, field research and social practice.
Each year, Caijiapo and nearby villages receive over 600 art students for study and creation. Many students have left their graduation works and art projects on village walls. The mural area in villages including Caijiapo has now exceeded 60,000 square meters.
When Ding Jiaojiao settled in Caijiapo through marriage from downtown Xi'an several years ago, the village felt remote and unfamiliar to her.
Three years ago, as more visitors came to the village, Ding opened a noodle restaurant. Inspired by the art projects around her, she reused old timber, firewood and everyday objects to decorate the space.
"I used to think art had little to do with me," she said. "Now I feel it comes from everyday life."
During the busy season, her place can sell more than 300 bowls of noodles a day, with annual net income reaching up to 350,000 yuan (about 51,372 U.S. dollars).
Nearby villages are also looking for new possibilities through art and creativity.
Liyukou Village, a dozen minutes' drive from Caijiapo, has brought coffee, films and motorcycle culture into the countryside, said Wang Lijun, Party chief of the village.
The village has attracted 24 types of businesses, creating jobs for over 100 people. Last year, its collective net income reached 720,000 yuan.
For Wang, art and creativity are inspiring new views of the countryside. "A village should keep its earthy charm. But it should also have a modern touch." ■
