Wu Qiang New Year Painting Museum

Wu Qiang New Year Painting Museum is the first thematic museum dedicated to New Year paintings in China. It is located in Wu Qiang County, serving as both a symbol of the art of New Year paintings and an artistic hall for showcasing and researching agricultural culture.The museum covers a total area of 25,100 square meters, with a building area of over 5,400 square meters. It houses over 10,000 cultural relics. Currently, there are five exhibition halls and an ancient-style New Year painting workshop, which effectively protect and inherit the ancient craft of woodblock printing, one of “ The Four Great Inventions” passed down through the ages. The exhibition is divided into six parts: (1) the origin and development of New Year paintings; (2) the glorious achievements in history; (3) the revolutionary tradition of modern and contemporary Wu Qiang New Year paintings; (4) the new pattern of current New Year painting development; (5) the colorful New Year paintings from various regions; and (6) traditional craft workshops. The exhibition is innovative and unique, blending a new era atmosphere with strong national and folk characteristics. It offers strong knowledge, artistic appeal, interest, and participation. It is not only a special place for patriotic education using excellent traditional culture, but also a forward base for the protection,inheritance, and promotion of folk art.

Since its opening in 1992, Wu Qiang New Year Painting Museum has received attention and support from all walks of life at home and abroad. In 1993, it was named the “Hometown of Woodblock New Year Paintings” by the Ministry of Culture. Since 1999, it has been designated as a patriotic education base in Hebei Province, a national key museum, a Hebei Province defense education base, a national AA-level tourist attraction, and an educational internship base for 17 higher art colleges and universities including the Central Academy of Fine Arts. It has successfully hosted three New Year Painting Art Festivals and the 17th Annual Conference of the Folk Crafts Committee of the China Arts and Crafts Association. It has been featured in special reports by nearly a hundred news media. Wu Qiang New Year Painting Museum has become a window for cultural exchanges between Hengshui and even Hebei Province and has a significant influence both domestically and internationally, receiving more than 100,000 visitors annually.