EP7: Blossoming art fills the city with humanity

EP 7: Blossoming art fills the city with humanity

Kovalenko Alevtina, Russian Art Entrepreneur

Since the establishment of the Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen has been transformed into a "cultural oasis" with its economy growing rapidly. In recent years, the city has not only built a number of influential cultural brands such as China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF), Shenzhen Reading Month, Creative December and etc., but also earned the honors of "City of Design ", “City of Piano ", "Global Model City for the Promotion of Reading", and "The most innovative city in Chinese Mainland" among others. Great fruits have been yielded as a result of the fertile soil for culture and creativity. With its innovative genes, highly developed markets, and inclusive and diverse culture, Shenzhen continues to attract artists from all over the world to create, start businesses, and take root in the city.

Kovalenko Alevtina from Russia is one of them. With a brush in hand, she expresses her attitude towards life and paints her own business blueprint. Since coming to Shenzhen in 2017, she has grown from an international au pair to an art entrepreneur. She looks forward to a future where more art groups will be nourished, the art community expanded, the creative vitality of the entire society further unleashed and the city filled with humanity.

“First time I came to Shenzhen in 2017. It's a very beautiful place, a lot of parks，like some lakes where people can go and relax. So, it’s like staying in a big city, but anytime you can escape and you can stay in some quite place. I'm an artist. I do paintings, oil and acrylic paintings. And this year l also started to do design. 

Art came to my life spontaneously. Just one day, when I was a student, I back home and I had very strong desire to paint from nowhere. Before that, I never studied art. So after that day I started to paint every single day for many hours. So at that time actually I couldn't understand what I was doing. But when 1 finished the painting or the drawing, I could see like some people or situations from my present or from my past. So I felt like it was like a healing process for me. But at that time, all drawings were like black and white, only a few of them were in color.

Only in 2017 when I came to Shenzhen, I started to paint again. So through my paintings, through these images, I could express my feelings and emotions. I could see a lot of colors in my paintings. So now when you look at my painting, you can see a lot of colors. Actually Shenzhen welcomes foreigners here to do their own business. In the future, I want to combine fashion and art together, that is my goal for the future. 

I think art industry in Shenzhen grows very fast, the community grows very fast. And more international artists come to Shenzhen. So we have a lot of art exhibitions. People like to share their ideas, it’s really nice. Now in Dafen oil village, they’re going to build an art center for international artists. So they are really planning to bring more artists from all over the world to come to Shenzhen and to create the art pieces. That’s really nice.

Since I came to Shenzhen, I was living in different parts of the city. And I can see many changes, like new buildings and piers, shops, like some new art areas open in Shenzhen. So I feel it really grows fast. It’s very hard to imagine how it will look like after a few years. I feel like Shenzhen is a very international city and people are open-minded. They share their ideas. So spirit is really good in this city. 

I saw some pictures and videos of the city from the past. The changes are really amazing, because it grows extremely fast. And I have some Chinese friends, local friends. And all those changes happened in front of their eyes. So even for them, it’s really a huge (extraordinary) experience. I don't know any other city that would grow as fast as Shenzhen.”

第七集 期待蓬勃发展的艺术让城市充满人文关怀

俄籍艺术创业者 Kovalenko Alevtina

深圳经济特区建立以来，随着经济飞速发展，深圳也完成了向“文化绿洲”的华丽转身。近年来，深圳不仅打造了深圳文博会、读书月、创意十二月等一批有影响力文化品牌，还荣获了“设计之都”“钢琴之都”“全球全民阅读典范城市”“中国大陆最具创新能力城市”等称号。有了肥沃的文创土壤，自然就会结出丰硕的成果。凭借着创新的城市基因、高度发达的商业市场、包容多元的地域文化，深圳持续吸引着来自世界各地的文化艺术人才在这里创作、创业、扎根生活。

来自俄罗斯的Kovalenko Alevtina就是其中之一。她用手中的画笔表达着自己的生活态度，也描绘着自己的创业蓝图。从2017年来到深圳至今，她已从一名国际互惠生，成长为一名艺术创业者。她期待着深圳未来滋养更多艺术团队，推动艺术社区不断壮大，从而进一步激发整个社会的创造活力，使得城市处处充满人文关怀。

“我第一次来深圳是在2017年。这是一个非常美丽的地方，有很多公园、湖泊，人们可以去那里放松一下。所以虽然住在深圳这样一座大城市，但你随时都可以找一个安静的地方，远离喧嚣。我是个画家，我画油画和亚克力画。今年我也开始做设计。

艺术自然而然地走进了我的生活。那时我还是一个学生，有一天回家，不知道为什么我突然萌生出想要画画的强烈愿望。在那之前，我从来没有学过艺术。所以从那天起，我开始每天画很多小时。当时我真的不明白我在做什么。但当我完成了绘画作品后，我可以从画面上看到现在和过去的一些人和事。所以我觉得画画对我来说就像是一个治愈的过程。但那时我所有的画都是黑白的，只有少数是彩色的。

直到2017年我来到深圳，我又开始画画了。通过绘画和图像，我可以表达自己的情绪和感受，我也运用了很多色彩。所以现在当你看我的画时，你可以看到五彩斑斓。实际上，深圳欢迎外国人来这里创业。未来，我想把时尚和艺术结合起来，这是我未来的目标。

我觉得深圳的艺术产业发展很快，艺术社区也发展很快。越来越多的国际艺术家来到深圳，所以说这有很多艺术展览。人们喜欢分享他们的想法，这真的很好。现在，在大芬油村还准备建一个国际艺术家艺术中心，打算把更多来自世界各地的艺术家带到深圳创作艺术作品。真是太好了。

自从我来到深圳，我曾在这个城市的不同地方生活过。我能看到很多变化，比如新的建筑、码头、商店涌现出来，还有新开的一些艺术区。所以我觉得深圳这发展得很快。很难想象它几年后会是什么样子。我觉得深圳是一个非常国际化的城市，人们思想开放，喜欢分享想法。城市的精神很开放。

我看了一些深圳过去的照片和视频。变化真的很惊人，因为深圳发展得非常快。我有一些中国本地的朋友，他们都亲眼目睹了这些变化。所以，即使对他们来说，这也是一段巨大（非凡）的经历。我不知道还有哪个城市能像深圳一样发展得如此之快。”