This exhibition brings together works from previous "Silk Road Artists' Rendezvous" events, along with the creations by distinguished Chinese and New Zealand artists. Sixty-three works of calligraphy and paintings by 60 artists from 33 countries, including New Zealand and China, are on display. The exhibition is on show in Wellington from September 20 to October 5. It will be held in Auckland, the biggest city in New Zealand, from October 25 to November 25.
Respecting, adapting to, and protecting nature and fostering harmony between humanity and nature are ecological values shared by China and every other country. Since the days of old, Chinese artists have been adept at painting landscapes and conveying emotions with ink and brush. Through this art form, traditional culture has been kept alive in the hearts and souls of contemporary artists. For more than a decade, artists from different countries have traveled extensively across China and drunk in the aesthetics of China's landscapes. By studying Chinese landscapes depicted with various techniques and tools, they experienced the contemporary significance of Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains and the Majestic Painting.
The symbols of civilization came together to form an inspirational map that fuels the artists' artistic creation: Liangzhu jade ware, pottery, characters, motifs, totems, and other cultural relics form the earliest traces of the Chinese civilization; as well as Haka dance, carving, weaving and tattoos that are important modes of expression for the powerful Maori culture. The artists that participated in Silk Road Artists' Rendezvous got to experience the interplay of the classical and the contemporary, examine the features and development of their own culture, and use their artworks to paint a civilization built on equality, mutual enlightenment, dialogue and acceptance and foster harmony among different civilizations. They built mutual success, friendship, understanding and solidarity.
The Silk Road remains an incredible part of the world's cultural memory and offers a unique backdrop for artistic exchange from various countries. In the course of realizing the Belt and Road Initiative in the shared imagination within the broader historical context of great civilizations, the artists revisited the birthplace of art, from Hangzhou to Wellington, from Shanghai to Athens, from Dunhuang to Rome, and from the Li River to the Amazon Jungle. They used their artistic creation as a medium to decipher the history of great civilizations, call attention to the beauty in the lives we currently live, and, collectively, compose a song of the Silk Road.
