The CAFA Lucion Nation Youth and Children Painting Competition Exhibition at the CAFA Museum in Beijing Photo: Courtesy of the CAFA

An exhibition of 130 paintings by children aged 4 to 17 kicked off at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) museum in Beijing on Thursday. 

The artworks were submitted as part of the CAFA Lucion Nation Youth and Children Painting Competition, sponsored by the CAFA and the Shandong Lucion Investment Holdings Group.

After a two-month submission period from May to July and three reviews, the 130 works were selected from nearly 10,000 submitted works.  

Among the works, 7,726 works were submitted by individual participants and 1,838 works were submitted through social institutions including child autism rehabilitation centers. 

At the opening of the exhibition, the judges for the competition shared their thoughts and opinions on child painting education.

Yang Jingzhi, director of Capital Normal University's College of Fine Art, said he feels that painting as an art form is different from music or dancing.

"If children want to study music or dance, they must first learn many basic skills, but painting is much easier to begin with."

Qiao Xiaoguang, director of CAFA's College of Humanities, suggested that children should start painting or doodling anywhere between a few months old and 6 or 7 years old.  

"This is part of a child's nature, which is not something that can be taught," said Qiao.

A research report on painting education and the 130 selected works was also released at the event. 

The report compares and analyzes the different paintings and their connection to the psychology of the participants to help gain a new perspective on the future of child painting education.

The exhibition is scheduled to come to an end on September 10.
Newspaper headline: Children are the future