Making a cultural cluster in China: A study of Dafen Oil Painting Village, Shenzhen

• Analyses the interplay of different levels of government in branding Dafen Village as an oil painting centre.
• Provides narratives of Dafen's art practitioners on comprising creativity for assembly-line repetitious paintings.
• Addresses the policy concern of how to develop Dafen to an art centre of international repute.
• Argues for the need to cultivate mutual respect between painter-workers and local villagers.
• And to capitalize on the artistic talents of the former and the place-based Hakka heritage of the latter.

Capitalizing on cultural resources to promote economic and urban development has increasingly become a major concern in cities in the world. This paper examines the case of Dafen Oil Painting Village in Shenzhen, China, which has been transformed from a poor rural village to a major oil painting production centre. This study tries to unravel the realities behind the “Dafen Brand”, with special attention on the forces behind the branding exercise and the associated socio-economic consequences as observed from the doubly deprived painter-workers. Dafen's art practitioners encounter severe economic hardship similar to the difficulties faced by other rural migrant workers in China's major metropolises.