In Malacca, the mural of Fan Bingbing as Empress Wu Zetian urgently needed fine-tuning. Tianjin came to the rescue
The dramatically improved mural. The added text in Chinese (on the right) reads, The legend of Wu Meniang. Fan Bingbing. Screen grab: 任大称/Weibo
When the initial images of the unveiling of the mural of Fan Bingbing (范冰冰) in Malacca (Melaka) was shared last Friday on social media, many Netizens remarked that it was not a good delineation. In fact, some would not call it a likeness. One art teacher remarked to us, "tak boleh, leh (cannot)." According to Oriental Daily (东方), the painting of her as Empress Wu Zetian (武则天) or Wu Meiniang (武媚娘) was completed by local artists Farhan and Gadino with the input of architect Ali Hakim, who reportedly hails from the Building Control Team of the City Hall of Malacca. Mr Hakim—a good painter by reputation—and the other two men had selected at image of Fan Bingbing as Empress Wu through her agent/manager Jersey Chong (张馨灵, Zhang Xinling). The fellows are apparently experienced in wall art, having contributed murals to Visit Malacca Year and the history of the Royal Malaysian Police.
It is not known if the sudden makeover—just three days after the original was completed and showed off by the state's chief minister Ab Rauf Yusoh—was the result of public disappointment and dismay, but Tianjin (天津) artist Ren Dacheng (任大称) was quickly despatched to Malacca to make the corrective touches. Online, seeing the improved painting, fans are delighted that "冷冰冰是范冰冰了 ('cold' Bingbing is now Fan Bingbing)!" China Press (中国报) reported that Mr Ren said that the star's agency arranged for him to go to the site of the mural to "修饰" or modify it. He did not say why the fine-tuning was necessary. But going through comments on social media, including China's Xiaohingshu (小红书), many felt that the image of Ms Fan was not realistic and that there were dark periorbital shadows, which prompted one Netizen to ask, "为什么要加黑眼圈"—why must dark circles around the eyes be added?"
As we write this, Fan Bingbing has yet to share photos of the wall art on her socials. It is possible that she did not like the original version and wished for it to be modified to her liking, if not approval. Ms Fan is scheduled to unveil the mural this Friday, according to earlier reports. It is possible that she would only participate in the unveiling if the depiction of her as Empress Wu is considerably improved so that her world-famous beauty would not be so ill-represented. When the improvements to the mural were made, some members of the media gave the exercise a clever spin, calling it the coming together of the artists of two nations, even "文化交流 (wenhua jiaoliu)" or a cultural exchange. Anything, we suppose, to appease the "international star". As the minister exclaimed to the press days ago, her "presence has a greater impact on the state's tourism sector at a world-class level"—even if the art isn't.
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