Gu Weijing was stunned for a moment when he saw this certificate.

He didn't expect that,

He actually joined the Calligraphy and Painting Association in Yangon.

"From now on, I can be regarded as an official person."

Gu Weijing was a little surprised.

This is a very novel experience for him, who has only been pulled by Mona to participate in student clubs since he was a child.

theoretically

Since receiving this certificate, he has no longer been a student in the eyes of the Yangon Cultural Bureau and the organizers of various activities, but a serious artist "Teacher Gu".

Directly on an equal footing with his grandfather.

But

He doesn't remember when he applied for membership.

"The report I made for you was also approved by someone I asked for you last week."

Old man Wu didn't raise his head, and said lightly.

"The Calligraphy and Painting Association actually doesn't have much money, so they give out some fruits during the New Year's holidays. Seminars are usually organized twice a year, and the participating members are paid an expert fee of 2 million kyats and a travel allowance of 1 million kyats, usually at resorts in Yangon or Mandalay. If we have enough money, we will occasionally set up a meeting in Phuket or Pattaya, Thailand, and travel at public expense anyway. ”

"This is of a welfare nature, if you want to participate, you don't have to pay attention to it if you don't have time."

"In addition, with a membership, you can also visit all public museums and galleries for free."

"If the members of the painting association have special creative needs, they can go to the official channels to copy some precious cultural relics or rubbings on the spot, but it is quite troublesome to submit an application report to the Cultural Affairs Bureau in advance."

"Lao Gu knows all these things, if you don't understand, ask your grandfather yourself."

Old man Wu smiled: "Actually, we have three or two cats and dogs in the public art museum, and it doesn't mean much." ”

"The only thing I think about is that your grandfather will give me an address when the time comes. In two days, I will send a notice of recognition of high-level artists to your school's student registration office through the association. ”

The old man rolled his eyelids and asked Gu Tongxiang opposite.

"Old Gu? I remember that your Gu Weijing and his sister were both on Dulwich, right? According to the current cultural policy, with this recognition, he can go to all universities in Yangon without examination, but unfortunately, there are relatively few international recognition of us, anyway, you can do it yourself. ”

Gu Tongxiang didn't care about playing chess when Old Man Wu had just spoken two sentences.

Sitting on the pony, he stretched his neck and looked at the certificate in his grandson's hand, happy as an old giraffe.

"If you don't play again, you will lose this game." Old man Wu knocked on the chessboard unhappily.

"If you lose, you lose."

Gu Tongxiang didn't care at all.

He didn't play chess at all, got up from his maza, and went to his grandson with his hands behind his back to read the certificate.

In the brown paper bag in Gu Weijing's hand, in addition to this membership notice, there is also a certificate of membership in the association, a small brown leather book, the size of half an adult's palm.

On the inside of the leather certificate is Gu Weijing's name, gender and date of birth, and below it is a red badge stamped with the stamp of the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the seal of the Calligraphy and Painting Association.

Only the position of the headshot is temporarily empty, and you need to take a photo of yourself with your own ID.

This membership certificate is also known as the so-called "art expert" certificate in popular understanding.

"If I lose the chess, I'll take the cigarettes."

Old man Wu took a box of locally produced Red Bee cigarettes from the chessboard and stuffed them into his pocket.

Nicotine and alcohol are not good things for the health of art creators.

For Gu Tongxiang and Wu Lao, who are both half literati and half businessmen, and they are all old men who have mixed in from the extremely turbulent era,

If you don't smoke or drink, it's a complete joke.

Without these two things, you won't be able to play in all kinds of situations where you need to play on the spot.

Although Gu Tongxiang has strict requirements for his grandson Gu Weijing, he is an old smoker, and when he and Old Man Wu play chess, they usually bet on each other to pack cigarettes.

It's not expensive, it's just a game to add to.

"Smoke this, smoke this......"

Gu Tongxiang took out two tubes of individually wrapped cigars with the thickness of his thumb wrapped in cedar wood chips from the room.

He handed Old Man Wu a new one first, and he himself poured out a small half of the last unfinished cigar from another cigar tube.

This is a small box he got a few years ago from the second counsellor of a consulate in a Latin American country who came to buy paintings at Gu's Book Gallery.

There are only about a dozen in total.

A high-end product sold at a serious Cuban state-run cigar experience hall.

The old man collects it like a baby, and he must be reluctant to smoke it.

It has always been that only large customers who are willing to paint thousands of dollars in the gallery to buy a painting will accompany them.

Accompanying one also refers to the kind of thing, Old Man Gu took a few puffs casually, smelled the taste, put it aside and waited for the cigar to stand and extinguish by himself, save it for the next time to smoke, and change it to a cigarette himself.

Gu Tongxiang accompanied him four or five times, and there was still about a third of the cigar left in his hand.

"Yo, I'm willing to do it."

Old man Wu took the cigar tube, smacked his lips, and quipped, "Today is considered to be a sex change." It seems that I didn't give this New Year's money in vain. ”

He had been coveting these cigars in Lao Gu's hand for a long time.

Several times when playing chess, he proposed to use this thing as a lottery, but Gu Tongxiang never agreed.

"I'll give you something, I'll give you something, the lighter and the cigar have oil smoke, don't pay attention to it."

Gu Tongxiang happily lit the cedar chips with a lighter, and then lit the cigar for the other party with the cedar chips, and then re-lit the small half of the cigar in his hand.

"Interesting, old Wu. Thank you so much. Gu Weijing didn't call you Grandpa Wu since he was a child. ”

He looked at the artist certificate in Gu Weijing's hand, and the smile on his face was like a bun.

Gu Tongxiang himself has this set of things, but at this time, he looks at the things in his grandson's hands, how to look at what kind of treasure.

"In the past, did the Calligraphy and Painting Association have such a small member as my grandson?" Gu Tongxiang is very complacent.

Calligraphy and Painting Association,

If it's done by the East Asian folk enthusiast group, it's really useless, and it's basically used to deceive laymen into selling paintings.

But if it's such a serious official organization.

Even if it's just a name and doesn't have much power, sometimes it's really hard to get into.

Many utilitarian artists may not care about money, but they will live a name for themselves in their lifetime.

What a large-scale international biennale, an international art fair.

In fact, for most painters, it is a bit too far, and the most hopeful and practical goal is to become a member of the local official painting and calligraphy association.

It can be understood that Cheng Minke has transformed into a scientific worker.

Gu Tongxiang himself was almost fifty years old before he hung the title of consultant in it.

I became a member of the Yangon Calligraphy and Painting Association, and even though the biggest role of the association is to produce tropical fruits, it sounds very majestic.

Again

Every year, there is an opportunity for academic seminars to be "vacationed at public expense".

Not only is the fee all-inclusive, but there will even be an additional expert fee.

Seriously,

How many painters in such a small place dare to dream of earning millions of dollars a year?

We're all adults, and we're all pretty practical.

As a painter, at the age of thirty, he can't see himself clearly, and he dreams of making a fortune all day long, and it is estimated that he is not far from asking for food.

It's fun to have free fruits to eat, and to be able to travel around every year.

"It's a good New Year's money."

Gu Tongxiang was much happier when he saw his grandson become a member of the painting association, than when he got the little brown book himself.

Becoming a member of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, in addition to these small benefits, the biggest benefits are actually some hidden benefits.

First of all

The most significant is the direct improvement in social status.

The association won't pay you, but you'll have the backing of an authority from now on.

In the art world,

Seeking fame and seeking fortune are essentially the same thing most of the time.

At least in the eyes of visitors to the store, his grandson has quickly changed from a pheasant painter who knows where it came from to a serious artist with official certification.

This is important.

Gu Tongxiang used to put up a color sketch of a classic car model drawn by Gu Weijing for $500, just to encourage his grandson.

There is a high probability that there will be no tourists, and it will be for the sake of being lonely [Gu Weijing/G· W] The name is signed to the payment.

It can be replaced by Gu Weijing now, if he puts the work in the gallery again.

is eligible to add a small parenthesis after the name to remark: [Gu Weijing/G· W——(Member of Yangon Calligraphy and Painting Association, Calligraphy and Painting Artist)】

If the price of another five hundred dollars is hung at this time, well...... In fact, it may not be sold.

But there has been a fundamental change from before.

At least if they really meet tourists who are not bad for money, they will feel much more comfortable when they pay for it, and they will not feel that they are a wronged person who bought children's works.

In the gallery industry, the most valuable and convincing resume proves that it must be a major biennale such as Venice that has won an award, and opened a solo exhibition in a top art museum such as the Louvre and the Vatican Art Gallery.

Or in an authoritative art magazine with a history of 100 years such as "Oil Painting", the buyer's recommendation is more than four and a half stars, which is also very good.

Changed to "The Legend of the Condor Heroes",

This is equivalent to a peerless master like East Evil and West Poison, whose whole body is the real kung fu of hard bridges and hard horses, and at any art annual meeting, he is qualified to sit on the rostrum and look at others with his nostrils.

There may not be a few such immortals in the whole of Asia.

If he is the mighty Peach Blossom Island owner Huang Yaoshi, a member of the Yangon Calligraphy and Painting Association, this kind of resume is determined to be at most a small character like the Four Ghosts of the Yellow River who appears on the street for a few pages.

Then again,

Don't take bean bags for dry food.

The four ghosts of the Yellow River are also serious masters in the eyes of ordinary people, and they look like miscellaneous fish, just because of the foil of the opponent.

Just like Gu Tongxiang, a member of the Yangon Painting and Calligraphy Association, he is also a miscellaneous fish in the world, and he is already one of the best in Myanmar.

Especially in the Asian cultural atmosphere, I really recognize this official certification.

secondly

With this identity as an expert, it is also convenient for you to go out to open intensive training cram schools, engage in art training and give lectures to others.

It may sound a bit LOW, but it's actually very profitable.

With the endorsement of being a member of the Calligraphy and Painting Association, he opened a private studio outside to engage in extracurricular tutoring and training for art students.

As long as the teaching is good, there are enough parents who are willing to pay for it.

In a year, I earn at least no less than my own small gallery.

Similar to the Gifted & Talented classes offered by Dulwich in previous years, they are either led by our own teachers like Professor Wattel, or they are taught from outside the community.

Why are students so excited this year? It's because of the words of an external professor, it is usually impossible to invite a big coffee of Mrs. Sakai's level, so don't even think about it.

Even artists who are several grades inferior to each other will never bother to take an invitation from the Principal of Dulwich, at least they will not have any interest in teaching in such a remote place as Dulwich's Yangon branch in Myanmar.

If they are hired externally, these private schools often select people from the list of members of the Calligraphy and Painting Association.

Dulwich implements the European salary standard, which is about six or seven million kyats a month, or about 3,000 US dollars, and can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars a semester.

In the eyes of Mrs. Sakai, this money is like a butt wipe, but in the eyes of a local painter, it is very impressive.

That is to say, Dulwich does not have a course in Chinese painting, otherwise Mr. Gu Tongxiang would have rushed over to sign up.

Finally, and perhaps the most useful benefit for Gu Weijing at this stage, is.

He is a member of the Yangon Calligraphy and Painting Association, and is on the official list of high-level talents.

If you're still a student,

Those who apply to universities in Hong Kong and some European schools that recognize the effectiveness of this high-level list, or the top five Asian art schools in South Korea, such as Hongik University and Ewha Womans College, are directly exempted.

As long as you pass the language score, you can go directly to the school, and there is also a scholarship to get.

Admissions officers who do not give exemption qualifications will also look up to you and are willing to relax the admission criteria, and enjoy almost the same treatment and qualifications as high-level athletes.

"The youngest may not be. In the past few years, there was a nephew of a warlord, it is estimated that he wants to be a vassal or simply whimsical, and he also wants to hang a name in it, he should be about the same age as Xiao Gu, do you say that the association dares not to agree? ”

Old man Wu shrugged helplessly: "But those who know how to do it should be a joke." The son-in-law played for two days and felt bored, so he quit. ”

"In the serious business, Gu Weijing belongs to the youngest."

"It's not easy to get this membership qualification, right?"

Gu Tongxiang smoked a cigar beautifully, and it seemed that he was going to take advantage of his good mood today, and he was not saved, and he was ready to wipe out all the one-third of the inventory.

"It's okay. After two months, the permanent board of directors shall be re-elected, and it shall have the right not to use it, and it shall be invalid after expiration. ”

Old man Wu's tone was still quite complacent: "The child who grew up next to me, I don't take care of him, who do I take care of?" Besides, it's not for him to go through the back door. I heard that Xiao Gu performed very well, and even Master Cao praised him, one member of the association is counted as one, who has this ability? ”

"It's you, Old Gu?"

Old man Wu pointed to the rice paper on the desk in the courtyard and quipped, "Why, I haven't let go of Lang Shining's mind yet." ”

(End of chapter)