China's 'oil painting factory' artists adapt with the changing times

Artists in a Chinese village once known for churning out fakes have seen their livelihoods upturned by the pandemic and a global economic slowdown, forcing many to adapt by becoming original painters in their own right.

Home to over 8,000 artists, southern China's Dafen has been cranking out near-perfect copies of timeless oeuvres for years. At its peak, three out of five oil paintings sold worldwide were produced in the village. But times have changed. Sales began to dip after the 2008 global financial crisis, drying up altogether when China shut its borders due to the pandemic in 2020.