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.