Contradiction In Wartime:Entanglements Of Discourses In The Third National Art Exhibition Of The Republic Of China

On the one hand,the change of the organizational structure of Chinese modern art exhibitions is determined by its internal evolution logic,on the other hand,it is affected by the characteristics of the times,the environment and the intention of the organizer.The Third National Fine Arts Exhibition of the Republic of China,which was held in Chongqing at the end of 1942,was labeled as the "National Art Exhibition" by the Ministry of Education of the Nationalist Government the first and last time,and the comprehensive fine arts exhibition was also held successfully since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War.Under the complicated historical background of prospect of war and economic crisis,the exhibition did not have publicity function of anti-Japanese war as today’s people imagine.Instead,it was manipulated by multiple wills and became a complex of contradictions in the gathering field of entanglements of discourses.In order to clarify this reality clearly,it is necessary to carry out research on the three main contradictory phenomena presented in the exhibition:First,there is disagreement about the benefits of the exhibition.Economic crisis and war consumption make the national government financial deficit serious.Artists and ordinary people living a poor life;The southwest art market with art exhibition as the channel has a brief "prosperous" scene.Exhibition income is beneficial to complement many-sided needs,but the Ministry of Education is in line with the price control,deliberately "avoid" exhibition income.This action not only conflicts with the cultural labor army advocated by the National Comforty and Culture Mobilization Committee of the CPC Central Committee,but also restricts the completeness of the exhibition form due to limited funds.Second,how to choose themes under the wartime background is a question.The exhibition was held at the time of the Anti-Japanese War.The exhibition focused on collecting and displaying the themes of the Anti-Japanese War,so as to arouse the emotions of the Chinese people and achieve the purpose of "building a nation after the Anti-Japanese War".However,the final result is contrary to this,the proportion of the theme of anti-Japanese war in modern art is less than one-sixth,and more abnormal thing is that the selection of the original few anti-Japanese war theme is further reduced.The reason for this phenomenon is not only the artist’s subjective choice and objective constraint,but also the change of national government’s appeal.Third,the ambiguous definition of art function.As the organizer,the Ministry of Education,in response to the fact that the theme of the War of Resistance was lacking,changed its attitude to the "propaganda of the War of Resistance" in the preparatory period,and instead turned to the construction of "rites,music and moral education".Only a few people,such as Zhang Daofan,insisted on the necessity of "art in the War of Resistance".The difference in the attitude of the Ministry of Education reflects the contradictions and ambiguities in the national government’s literary and artistic policy.Behind the contradictory phenomena,there is the reality that the wills of the national government,the central and the local,the state and the artist are separated and independent.The turmoil of war and the living pressure under the economic crisis are contradictory phenomena and the external forces of the forced contraction of the exhibition form,but they are not force majeure.Inherent divergent interests,vague ideas,people slack is the root cause.The study of the contradictory relations and discourse entanglements in the exhibition is not only to clarify the exhibition form itself under the pull of the will of various parties,but more importantly to judge the relevance between the "spirit of The Times" and the practice of the subject,so as to clarify the multiple attributes of the historical ontology.