An exhibition of paintings by farmers opened Sunday in Huxian County in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

A large number of paintings by artists from 13 countries and regions as well as Chinese farmers from 47 counties nationwide, which are well-known for rural art, are on display during the three-day exhibition.

The event will be jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the Chinese Artists Association, the Research Institute for Chinese Farmer Paintings, the Cultural Department of Shaanxi Province and the Tourism Bureau of Xi'an city, the provincial capital.

During the event, a seminar on modern Chinese farmer paintings and an international art-tourism festival will also be held.

Huxian County is 38 kilometers southwest of Xi'an. Its population of 500,000 contains at least 2,000 farmer painters.

Depicting the landscape and the farmers' new way of life, 2,000 colorful exhibits of farmers in the county have been collected by museums and art galleries at home and abroad.

Exhibitions of the paintings have been held in France, the United States and Singapore in recent years, and have received an enthusiastic response from viewers.

(China Daily April 9, 2002)