More than 100 works of art by about 100 Chinese and Japanese artists are on show at the China Millennium Monument in western Beijing until December 5.
The exhibition is sponsored by the International Cultural Exchange Center under the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the China Millennium Monument Foundation and the Japanese Association of World Arts and Cultural Promotion.
The show is one of the major events celebrating the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relation between China and Japan.
"The meaning of this exhibition has gone beyond aesthetic enjoyment and artistic exchange between the two nations," said Lu Jun, director of the International Cultural Exchange Center. "It has become a symbol of the common wish of the people of both countries for peace and friendship."
The exhibits include ink paintings and calligraphic works. The two Asian art forms are shared traditions of China and Japan. Most of the artists in the exhibition have been highly active and influential over the past two decades.
According to Toshu Fukami, president of the Japanese Association of World Arts and Cultural Promotion, this is the first time this kind of exhibition has been held. Its predecessor was the BESETO (Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo) Fine Arts Festival, a regular project to promote artistic exchange among China, South Korea and Japan.
"The arts of ink painting and calligraphy are world arts as well. There are endless possibilities for these arts to develop, in form, territory and techniques," Fukami said. "It is a great pleasure for artists from different backgrounds to communicate with each other."
(China Daily November 28, 2002)
