With a history spanning 5,000 years, China is rich with cultural and artistic treasures – albeit not nearly as wealthy as it should be.

There’s no arts and culture killjoy quite like a Cultural Revolution. In just 10 years from 1966-1976, innumerable works of splendid art, antiques, architecture, books and paintings spanning millennia were destroyed by Red Guards. Countless Chinese artists were persecuted and people were encouraged to criticise their cultural institutions. Arts students, or any students for that matter, were shifted en masse from their universities, to raise pigs and grow grain in rural labour camps.

Chinese Propaganda from 1967 translated to "Destroy the old world; Forge the new world." The worker is destroying classical Chinese text, music on vinyl, a crucifix and buddha.

That one decade saw the greatest destruction of art and culture the world has ever known; replaced with hundreds of millions of Red Books full of Mao’s one-liners, a spate of propaganda cartoons and political slogans printed on everything from bus tickets to cigarette packs. Peking Opera was one of the few traditional arts to flourish during the Revolution.

11 of the top 20 earning artists on the planet are Chinese

Starved of art for a generation, China’s nouveau rich are doing everything they can to play catch-up. More than half of the world’s top earning artists are now Chinese and China’s billionaires are ravenous for historic art such as Ming vases (many saved through illegal smuggling out of China during the Revolution). Massive decommissioned factories now support art districts such as Beijing’s 798 and Shanghai’s M50, bustling with galleries, cafes and artists.
 

Qi Baishi's 'A Long Life, A Peaceful World' set a record this year for Chinese Modern Art selling for a cool $65 mill. In 2010, only Picasso outsold Qi.

Chinese Art Sales Statistics

* Source: Ministry of Culture
** Source: European Fine Art Foundation
 

Add the rest of China’s cultural industry to those numbers, and the sector is worth almost $200 billion, a big number, but at 2.75% of GDP in 2010, it’s just a third of the ratio of developed countries such as the US. China still has a lot of work to do.

Can China pull out another Cultural Revolution?

The Chinese Government knows that arts and culture are vital to becoming a true world power; from both a national psyche and economic standpoint.

A large portion of America’s influence on the world last century came from selling its culture and ideals through Hollywood and its music. China is failing miserably at that. It will soon be the 2nd largest film market in the world, yet even with Government censorship, restrictions on foreign films (only 20 can be screened a year) and forced launch dates, just 54% of takings are from Chinese flicks. Most Chinese films struggle to break even.

The Government’s Role in China’s Art and Culture

The Chinese Government plays the main role in arts and culture in China. In any country, a Government’s contribution is vital to nurturing its arts and culture, but it needs to be balanced with private incentives to truly grow and flourish.

That commonly beaten drum of IP-Protection is choking artistic growth in China. The most widespread street vendors in China are those flogging pirated books, movies and music – a traditional breeding ground for much of the creative class. There’s no easy way for China to fix its piracy, but until it does, it’s unlikely the growth of home-grown artists will be supported by Chinese paying full retail prices.

China’s rote learning education cops a lot of flack for limiting creativity, yet it is necessary to memorise thousands of Chinese characters – beautiful art in themselves, especially when perfected through calligraphy. The attractive characters can only inspire more art and design, but it is a case of balancing that rote learning with creative learning – something the Government is working on.

The Colourful Peking Opera

China Has a Captive Audience for Art

On the subway in Shanghai I’m often surrounded by passengers who are entranced in their smartphones and tablets watching movies or reading ebooks. With more shipments of smartphones to China than anywhere else, that will only grow. Ask the average Chinese person what they did last night, and you’ll hear about some movie they downloaded (for free). If there’s a way for local and international artists to be compensated by the billion-odd Chinese enjoying their art, it could only help grow creativity in China. And that would correspondingly raise innovation and the standard of living.

Will China Deliver The Next Silicon Valley?

China knows to raise its living standards to western levels, it has to evolve from factories producing cheap goods to creating innovative products, much like Japan and Korea have done. Innovation needs to be fostered. Building large shiny Innovation Parks may help, but a truly innovative nation needs to be inspired and practiced through its arts and culture.
 
Wealthy Asian tycoons have teamed up with local governments around China to produce innovation parks inspired by the Silicon Valley. They’re helped along tax deductions, licensing for startups and generous grants, yet will it be enough?
 
I believe a key peice of the puzzle missing in China, that Silicon Valley does so well, is not fostering immigrants to China. More than a quarter of Silicon Valley businesses are started by non-Americans. Immigrants are generally hungier and look at new ways of doing things. However the Chinese Government make it especially hard for foreigners setting up a business in China, and even more difficult to sell out.
 
And then there’s the Great Firewall, that blocks YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and even makes Google searches onerous – key sources for ideas and selling ideas once you have them.
 
There’s little doubt that China will start producing cutting-edge innovations; we are starting to see some fruits from the their significant investment in green technology. But the speed at which China innovates can be bolstered and enriched by a society that supports arts and culture.
 

My little Rant: Is China Increasing the Need for other Countries to Spend More on Arts and Culture?

In a word, yes. In this world of globalisation, countries can rarely match China on price or scale, so they need to compete through innovation and design. There is a significant correlation between arts & culture and creativity & design. Ironically in difficult financial times, it is often the arts and culture funding that is first to be cut.

So it isn’t just China who needs to focus on arts and culture, but almost every country in this increasingly competitive world. Get drawing.