From Imitation to Innovation: The Transformation of Dafen Village into China’s Premier Oil Painting Hub

Previously, Guangdong was often referred to as a “cultural desert,” especially in Shenzhen, a young city populated predominantly by immigrants, where the formation and development of local cultural characteristics was not an overnight achievement. However, in recent years, an urban village in Shenzhen has gained nationwide fame and is acclaimed as the “No. 1 Oil Painting Village in China.”

This place is Dafen Village, a small settlement covering 0.4 square kilometers, where the original inhabitants made their living through farming. The transformation began in the 1980s when a person from Hong Kong brought over twenty painters to Dafen to start a business replicating famous world paintings, thereby turning these illiterate farmers into “China’s Van Goghs.”

In Dafen, reproductions of priceless oil paintings housed in the Louvre or the British Museum could be easily created, gradually establishing a complete industry chain of oil painting production, acquisition, and exportation, earning it the moniker “Kingdom of Knockoff Art.” Many netizens even joke: “World-famous paintings come out of Dafen.”

Dafen Village is populated not so much by villagers but by painters from across the country. Preliminary statistics show that there are over 1,100 stores related to oil painting in Dafen, with more than 8,000 painters and painters living in the village.

Over the years, these lanes have become the painters’ livelihood and sustenance. The mural galleries have gained scale and become attractions. Many visitors are drawn here by the artistic ambiance of the painted walls and the vibrant, down-to-earth painting scenes.

Each shop in the village has its own style, filled with various oil paintings. Whether it’s a small painting costing twenty or thirty yuan or a large one priced in the hundreds or thousands, there’s something for everyone, with diverse styles and at very affordable prices for what appear to be high-quality reproductions. Today, Dafen’s annual oil painting sales nearly reach 5 billion yuan, making it known as “the most powerful oil painting village in China.”

The painters here span a wide range of ages, from twenty-something youths to middle-aged individuals in their forties and fifties. Each holds a brush, painting nonchalantly in the alleys, attracting many tourists with their earnest demeanor. Visitors quietly appreciate the artists at work.

While Dafen Village originally focused on replicating famous paintings, it is now embracing originality. Each shop now boasts unique artworks, signaling a shift from mere imitation to the creation of original, one-of-a-kind pieces.