Art as a universal language will take centre stage at a Chinese exhibition for peace, which is headed to Malta as part of an international tour.
Some of the contemporary art pieces on display at the China Cultural Centre in Valletta next week have previously been exhibited at the Beijing International Art Biennale and featured also in Denmark, Belgium and Italy.
The Western world is more familiar with masterpieces such as Pablo Picasso’s Dove of Peace and Guernica, or the Knotted Gun sculpture in front of the UN building in New York, as works that extol peace.
Polo by Fu ZuodongThe forthcoming exhibition will be a good opportunity to get a glimpse of peace advocacy in Chinese contemporary art.
Liu Dawei, from the China Artists Association, which is helping to organise the event, believes that Chinese contemporary art has broken the barriers of language and leapt over the fence of rigid artistic ideals to participate in the building of a community with a shared future.
“It reflects the patriotism of the Chinese people, as well as our wish for world peace and harmony,” Mr Liu says.
For Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, the exhibition allows locals and tourists to explore Chinese art and promote its artists, while encouraging cultural exchanges.
The exhibition will be open between July 9 and 11, from 9am to 12.30pm and 2.30pm to 5pm. Before the launch of the exhibition, the China Cultural Centre will, on Friday at 7pm, also host a lecture on Chinese fine art, examining it through the ages and leading up to the contemporary era.
The speaker will be Liu Zhong.
More information is available on maltaccc@gmail.com or 2122 5055.
From left: Summer of Belarus by Li Aiguo, Mirages by Cheng Baizhong and Tree of Chopsticks by Luo Zhinan
Yi People on Their Way to the Market by Liu Dawei
The Ancient Road on Camel Back by Hsu Mingfeng