At this point in the trip, brushing off the hordes of people selling postcards/beverages/snacks/pieces of rice with your name on them/scrolls with your name in Chinese characters/paintings/books/small wooden animals/etc is second nature.
At the same time, when something is unique, it leaps right out at you.
This is local farmers’ art from Xi'an, created by farmers trained by artists/intellectuals displaced during the Cultural Revolution in the 1970’s. I guess this must be the second generation of the phenomenon now, but those details are a little hazy. Some of the farmer artists have had international shows, and what we bought will be on view in DC in the not too distant future.
We found a lot we liked, bargained like demons, and believe we got a decent deal... but given those grins on the people running the show, I don't think we did THAT well.
No comments:
Post a Comment