A Journey of Art
Daily-life scenes of African cities are an important source of inspiration for Chinese painter Fu Xuming, as seen here in one of his paintings
Art work, some say, is the window to an artist’s soul. It is akin to a journey that allows people to see beyond the immediate world and reveals doors leading to new knowledge, encounters and experiences.
If the journey is sometimes metaphorical or even spiritual, and expresses the artists’ never-ending quest for perfection, it can also mean the concrete and real experience of a movement through space or time.
For the artists who are featured in this issue, there is probably a bit of both. For this month’s cover story, ChinAfrica has interviewed Chinese and African artists who have taken part in cultural exchange activities between the two sides, and who have been kind enough to open the doors of their studios and share the outcomes of cross-cultural cooperation.
From the Chinese painters who visited Malawi, Tanzania and Mauritius in an unforgettable and inspiring trip, to the African artists who completed an art residency in Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces in China, here are the touching and invigorating results of artist-to-artist exchanges. Each of their canvas is an open window on their shared experiences that now link the artistic communities in China and Africa.
These cultural exchanges were made possible in large part by the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation action plans over the past years. Indeed, as cultural and artistic exchanges between
China and Africa continues to develop, a number of institutions, among which are the Network of International Culturalink Entities, Chinese cultural centers in Africa, and China’s Ministry of Culture, have stepped in to support and develop this trend.
Such programs enable some of the leading painters in China and Africa to have a unique and personal experience through exchange visits, and then showcase it in their home countries through their creations.
Like them, ChinAfrica invites you to step on a journey to share, connect and expand your horizons through art. Who knows, maybe you will even discover in yourself a great hidden artistic potential.