Matthias Meinharter + Nikolaus Gansterer

CHINESE WHISPERS 

THE PORTRAIT OF A PORTRAIT-PRODUCING -ECONOMY 

In our project “Chinese Whispers” we analyse forms of production and reproduction or oil-painting in Dafen (Shenzhen) and use them as the starting 

point in our artistic work. Our main attention is focused on errors in translations and copies. By researching these errors we want to make an artistic 

statement about cultural practice, identity and authenticity.

The term “Chinese Whispers” is the English name for a children’s game. This game is about communication and its failures. A person is whispering 

a word or sentence to another’s person’s ear. Then this person is whispering what he/she had understood to the next person. And so on … 

Every person is changing his message a little. At the end the original message turns out to be something completely different. This principle happens

 in all linked communication systems. “Chinese Whisper” is therefore a good method to create unpredictable innovation.  We used this “Chinese 

Whisper Method” for our project with the painters of Dafen.

GEO-POLITICAL CONTEXT

The by now famous "painters village Dafen" is located in Shenzhen and therefore part of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The SEZ was originally 

established in 1979 due to its proximity to Hong Kong (by then a prosperous British colony). It was created to be an experimental ground of capitalism 

in "socialism with Chinese characteristics".

SHENZHEN

Shenzhen is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Being southern China's major financial centre, it is home to the Shenzhen 

Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies. Shenzhen has also the second busiest port in mainland China, ranking

 only after Shanghai. It eventually became one of the largest cities in the Pearl River Delta region, which has become one of the economic powerhouses 

of China as well as the largest manufacturing base in the world. 

DAFEN

Painters in Dafen copy historical and contemporary oil-paintings 1:1. It has developed to an extremely profitable branch of industry. Annually 

approximately five million paintings are produced at "the assembly-line", usually copies of masterpieces. Many of the painters have specialized 

themselves in completely specific styles (or masters). Major clients are western companies, such as hotels, which want to impress with "classical" 

oil-paintings, but are unable (or unwilling) to afford money for originals. Good copies are awarded with prices and promotions? 2004 Dafen got the 

"Cultural Industry Model Base - Award" from the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

PAINTING THE PAINTER

Our starting point is a picture, taken from the movie “Frieda”, showing Selma Hayek miming Frieda Karlo, while painting a self-portrait. We asked a

 painter to reproduce this picture in oil-colours. During the production, a photo is taken of the painter and how he is painting the picture in his/her 

surrounding field (workplace and finished paintings). That again serves as a master artwork to the next painter (with a different painting style). The 

motive of origin remains visible on the easel, but it vanishes more and more into the background by the repeated modification of the process. Several 

pictures in oil are the result of this procedure, documenting the work conditions and circumstances of these "assembly-line" painters. 

MOVIE

According to this “painting-the-painter” project, we also produce a movie, which is a subjective portrait of Dafen. This movie shows the weird scenery

 of an oil-painting factory styled as a village and interviews with related persons, such as painters, frame-makers and agents. 

SETUP

To provide multiple points of views of this unique place, we build a construction made of frames, in which we arrange the paintings together with a 

TV-set (on which the movie is shown).