Industrial heritage inspires new creative outlooks

Gradual restoration

The Wumuchong coal mine was once a key energy production base in Hunan. At its peak, the mining area employed 2,000 miners, with dormitories, bathhouses, sorting conveyors, and ventilation shafts spread across the area. For decades, the coal extracted and processed in Wumuchong powered industries and heated homes across the region.

In 2014, the local government decided to shut down the mining operation to phase out outdated production methods and address environmental concerns.

After the mine officially ceased production in 2016, many industrial facilities and buildings were preserved. Nine main buildings, three mine shafts, kilometers of railway tracks, and the skeletal frame of the sorting conveyor sat silently in the nearly 10-hectare area.

With the initiative of artists and the local government, the coal that once fueled industry now fuels creation.

The project to build an international art zone in the former mining area began in 2020, said Liu Ke, a professor at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and one of the project's initiators.

Instead of rapid construction, the team chose a gradual, year-by-year transformation for the area. The heart of the complex, once completed, will be a museum built on-site to preserve and display the main industrial heritage of the old mine, surrounded by artist studios and living areas, galleries and exhibition halls, and a public ecological art park.

International artist residencies are one of the Wumuchong art zone's primary focuses, Liu said. Artists like Dupeyron are invited to stay and create their artworks on-site, with access to studios and accommodation.

"We encourage visiting artists to stay longer, typically for one or two months," Liu said. "This extended immersion allows them to develop a closer bond with China, gain a better understanding of the local culture, and form collaborative relationships with local artists."

Since 2020, approximately 300 international artists have completed short-term residencies in the area, while seven artists are in long-term residence, according to Liu. The art zone has also established ongoing exchange mechanisms with residency programs in Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Turkiye and Malaysia.

Preservation and restoration work on the old industrial sites is underway, with a collaborative project carried out within the framework of Sino-French cultural cooperation.

In 2024, against the backdrop of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, as well as the Sino-French Year of Culture and Tourism, the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and the Avignon Higher School of Art in France jointly launched the Wumuchong Coal Mining Area Cultural Preservation and Ecological Restoration Project. Via multidisciplinary approaches including art, architecture and heritage conservation, the Chinese and French teams together conducted systematic research on the mining site. They also interviewed veteran miners and technical personnel who once worked in the mining area to gather firsthand information on production processes and spatial usage patterns, aiming to draw a complete picture of the area's industrial memory.

"The restoration of the buildings aims to preserve their authentic materials," said Herve Giocanti, a professor of conservation and restoration of cultural heritage at the Avignon Higher School of Art. "First, we need to understand the history of this mine and its people."

Ecological considerations also play a vital role in the project. The French team introduced biochar technology, which treats abandoned materials through anaerobic combustion, reducing pollution while producing outputs useful in both agriculture and art.

Last year, French artist Sarah Venturi created a unique pigment from recycled coal dust from the site, naming it "Meitanba Black" after the township where the mine was located.

According to Liu, restoration work will focus on two to three buildings each year, while advanced ecological technologies will be utilized in both restoration and construction of several new buildings.