Summary of Art Exchange Activities between China and Russia in Recent Years
On June 19, 2018, the Silk Road International Art Gallery Alliance was established, and national art galleries and key art institutions along the Belt and Road, such as the China Art Museum and the Russian National Academy of Arts, participated in the alliance.
[70 Years of Damei Art Exchange Story]
On the historic occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and president, the Supreme Leader of was invited to pay a state visit to Russia and attend the 23rd St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. This is the eighth time that the Chairman of the Supreme Leader has set foot on Russian soil since 2013. The heads of state of China and Russia talked about friendship and planned blueprints at a new historical starting point, which injected a strong impetus into the development of China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era.
Over the past few days, a series of colorful artistic activities have been carried out enthusiastically in Moscow, adding a happy and friendly atmosphere to the visit of the Supreme Leader Chairman to Russia and the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. At the China Cultural Festival held in Gil Cultural Center, Russians can not only enjoy tea, sing China songs and listen to China folk stories, but also participate in kung fu and calligraphy workshops. The Great Calligraphy Exhibition between Russia and China, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, also kicked off in the Russian State Duma Building, where Chinese and Russian calligraphers gathered together. …
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Sino-Russian relations have ushered in the best period in history and become a "model turn" in the relations between big countries and neighboring countries. The Chairman of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "China and Russia are good neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, good friends who help each other and good partners who cooperate sincerely." As a key area of China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in the new era, people-to-people exchanges have played a positive role with their own characteristics in promoting good-neighborliness and win-win cooperation between the two countries. By holding "cultural year" and "cultural festival" with each other, China and Russia hold activities such as Sino-Russian cultural forum, Sino-Russian Expo and Sino-Russian cultural collection, which makes the cultural exchanges between the two countries closer. Art, as one of the important aspects, has added brilliant colors to Sino-Russian friendship.
1. Sino-Russian Art Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative
Under the grand framework of the "Belt and Road Initiative", China and Russia use culture as the medium, and the level of exchanges is getting higher and higher, and the forms are becoming more and more diverse. China’s ambassador to Russia, AARON Li, published a signed article "Practical Cooperation between China and Russia on the Belt and Road" in the Russian newspaper, saying: "The frequent interaction between professional associations, museums, theaters and art circles in the two countries has greatly prospered the form and connotation of cultural exchanges between the two countries."
In recent years, the cultural exchanges between the National Museum of China and Russian museums have increased day by day, and several influential exhibitions have been held successively, such as the exhibition "lev tolstoy and His Times" held in cooperation with Tolstoy’s Jasna Bolena Manor Museum and Tolstoy’s Moscow Museum in 2014, and the exhibition "Echo of the Volga River — — The exhibition of traveling paintings in Trechakov Gallery, and the exhibition "Silk Road and Russian National Cultural Relics" held in cooperation with the Russian National Museum in 2016. In the exhibition "Silk Road and Russian National Cultural Relics", 594 cultural relics, such as costumes, handicrafts and daily tools of major ethnic groups along the Russian section of the ancient Silk Road, were exhibited, from which the audience can see the imprint of cultural exchanges between China and Russia over the past few hundred years and feel the concept of exchange and intercommunication of the Silk Road. These exhibitions have deepened the mutual understanding between the Chinese and Russian peoples, and become an artistic and cultural feast loved by Russian audiences.
In June 2018, the Silk Road International Art Gallery Alliance promoted by the China Art Museum was established. National art galleries and key art institutions from 18 countries and regions along the Belt and Road, including the Russian National Academy of Arts, participated in the alliance, which opened up an important channel for art exchanges between countries.
China and Russia are both important members of the BRICS countries, and the two sides have maintained close communication and coordination within the framework of the BRICS countries. In recent years, the BRICS Museum Alliance and the BRICS Art Gallery Alliance, in which China and Russian museums and art galleries participate, have been established respectively, laying a solid foundation for promoting and strengthening cultural and artistic exchanges among BRICS countries. Museums and art galleries in China and Russia continue to expand friendly cooperation, use the power of art to promote the building of a community of human destiny, and promote exchanges and mutual learning among the world’s diverse civilizations.
In the process of organizing and implementing the "One Belt, One Road" international art project, the National Academy of Painting of China invited painters from many international art institutions, including the Russian Academy of Arts, to participate in the creation, which enriched the performance system of the whole project. In addition, the Sino-Russian art exchange exhibition with the theme of "One Belt, One Road", Russian painters go to Moscow, St. Petersburg and other places to collect wind and sketch, and Russian artists come to China to create exchanges and other activities are dazzling and colorful.
2. The art exchange exhibition with climax after climax.
In recent years, with the cultural exchange becoming a highlight of Sino-Russian relations, the art exchange exhibition between the two countries has reached a climax, and the social response has been enthusiastic, forming a colorful and beautiful picture.
On May 7, 2015, on the eve of attending the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Great Patriotic War in Russia and visiting Russia, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader published a signed article entitled "Remember history and create the future" in Russian newspaper, pointing out: "The Chinese nation and the Russian nation are both great nations. At that time, we shared weal and woe and formed an indestructible fighting friendship with blood. Today, the Chinese and Russian peoples will work together to protect peace and promote development, and continue to make their own contributions to consolidating lasting world peace and common progress of mankind. " At every major historical node, China and Russia will talk about fighting friendship through artistic exchanges to commemorate the road of great power relations that has gone through hardships and hardships. In August, 2015, China Art Museum and Russian National Museum and Exhibition Center co-sponsored "Victory: 1945-2015! — — The exhibition of Russian art works commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascist war kicked off. The exhibition brings together the works of several generations of outstanding Russian artists, including 76 anti-fascist classic collections from 12 important Russian art institutions, including the National Russian Museum and the National Central Museum of Russian Modern History. This is the first large-scale centralized exhibition of Russian anti-fascist art works in China. Some oil paintings familiar to the audience in China appeared in the exhibition, which attracted people’s attention. For example, Laktyanov’s Letter from the Front, written in 1962,It was once included in China’s history textbook, depicting the situation that the people in the rear were eagerly looking forward to letters from relatives in front of the battle during the war. This exhibition is in line with the China Art Museum’s exhibition "Casting Soul to Learn from History, Cherishing Peace — — The art exhibition commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese people’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the world anti-fascist war echoed each other, forming two highlights of the activities commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascist war. The heroic sons and daughters who fought for the motherland and the world, full of passion and fighting spirit, as well as the painter’s carved brushwork vividly reflect the indomitable and bloody spirit of the Chinese and Russian people, and show the firm determination and confidence of the Chinese and Russian people to cherish history and love peace together.
"The true meaning of the revolution is to seek the liberation and freedom of the greatest number of mankind, and Lenin has achieved great success here." — — On November 7, 2017, a silk calligraphy appeared in the "Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the October Revolution — — On the October Revolution Cultural Relics Exhibition in the Russian National Museum of History, this is a mourning speech written by Sun Yat-sen for the first anniversary of Lenin’s death. The exhibition is divided into three parts: Great Revolution, People’s Memorial and Sino-Soviet Friendship. With precious historical relics, real historical photos and wonderful works of art, it shows the audience a magnificent great revolutionary struggle, an earth-shaking historical change and a story of Sino-Russian friendship. The exhibition brings together dozens of oil paintings depicting the October Revolution and related major events, including gerasimov’s Lenin on the rostrum, sokolov scalia’s Assault on the Winter Palace and other classic paintings, as well as some sculptures and posters. The exhibition includes 238 exhibits, the vast majority of which are exhibited in China for the first time, including many heavyweight cultural relics.
The works of lev tolstoy, a world writer, have long been cherished by the people of China. The first Russian cultural exhibition hosted by the new China National Museum is "lev tolstoy and His Times". In September 2014, Tolstoy’s "A Letter to China People" appeared in this exhibition. In this letter to China scholar Gu Hongming, the writer wrote: "I have always been very interested in the life of the people in China. I try to know what I can understand, first of all, the religious wisdom of China, reading books of Confucius and Mencius and commenting on them. Of course, I also read books about Buddhism in China and about China written by Europeans. " A total of 255 pieces (sets) of exhibits including the above-mentioned letter manuscripts were exhibited in this exhibition, among which oil paintings, prints, sketches, sculptures and other works of art became a highlight. The exhibition begins with the portrait of lev tolstoy painted by Lie Bin and ends with Tolstoy’s tomb painted by Bao shcherbakov in the autumn. The exhibition also exhibited many works of art such as Tolstoy’s novels War and Peace, Anna Karenina and Resurrection. Gorky said that it is impossible to know Russia without knowing Tolstoy. The holding of this exhibition provides a good perspective for Russian audience to understand Russian civilization, and adds a story to the long history of Sino-Russian cultural exchange.
In recent years, the number of China calligraphy and painting exhibitions held in Russia has also increased day by day, which has set up a bridge between the two countries to promote mutual understanding between the arts and the people. Among them, "Colorful Beijing Love to Build a Chinese Dream — — 2014 First China Artists’ Creation and Large-scale International Fine Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition ","Ink Focus Entering Russia in 2016 "and" The Light of Chinese Civilization — — A series of exhibitions, such as China Art Exhibition, Famous Artists’ Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition and Shanghai Museum’s Collection of Ming Dynasty Art Treasures, have attracted the attention and interest of local people. It is reported that ordinary Russians have hardly heard of China’s traditional Chinese painting before, and only artists can tell the difference between "meticulous painting" and "freehand painting". However, nowadays, many people in Russia have become lovers of this plastic arts, and they like to deal with ink and watercolor. When talking about the causes of this phenomenon, a China calligraphy and painting enthusiast in Russia said that China’s traditional Chinese painting has its own characteristics, giving people a sense of mystery, and the Russians’ interest in the increasingly powerful China is also one of the important reasons.
3. Colorful art activities for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, which is a milestone and a new starting point. Since the beginning of the year, art exchange activities with the theme of 70 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia have started one after another.
On January 6th, Russian artist Sidoroff and China artist Tomus "met" at the China Art Museum. Sidoroff was born in 1928 and served as the chairman of the Russian Artists Association for more than 20 years. His works show the vast momentum of Russia, with poetic lyricism and musical sense; Born in 1932, Tomus is a native of Tumote Zuoqi, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. For decades, Tomus has been devoted to the exploration of nationalization and modernization of oil painting, and is regarded as the pioneer of "Grassland Painting School". Sidoroff loves China traditional culture, likes Qi Baishi and China’s poems. In modern times, especially since the founding of New China, Russian oil painting has influenced several generations of China painters, among whom Tomus is one. In "Watching the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Russia: Hometown — — Sidoroff and Tomus oil painting joint exhibition ",these two elderly people who witnessed and witnessed the Sino-Russian friendship, described the sincere friendship between Chinese and Russian artists in oil painting language.
On the eve of the Lunar New Year, the first activity of "Happy Spring Festival" in Moscow in 2019 was "Damei China" — — The Sino-Russian Youth Culture and Art Exchange Festival opened at the China Cultural Center in Moscow. With the theme of "Russia in My Eyes", 50 outstanding children’s paintings and calligraphy works were selected for exhibition. The activity not only enhanced the mutual understanding between teenagers of the two countries, but also made the audience feel the charm of China culture.
Both China and Russia are cultural powers, each with a long cultural history and rich cultural resources. From March 15th to May 30th, the "Exhibition of the 18th Century Oriental Prosperity and Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty" sponsored by the Palace Museum in Beijing was held in Moscow Kremlin Museum. The Palace Museum selected 116 pieces (sets) of cultural relics to exhibit, showing a prosperous 18th century Oriental Prosperity, which was welcomed by Russian audiences. As an important cultural exchange activity to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, in August, the Kremlin Museum will hold the "Mu Mu Zhi Yi — — The theme exhibition "Russian Palace Ceremony Exhibition" from Moscow Kremlin is also worth looking forward to.
On May 28th, the opening ceremony of the Great Calligraphy Exhibition between Russia and China was held in the Russian State Duma Building to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. China artists brought calligraphy works created on traditional Xuan paper, and performed live calligraphy creation performances, while Russian artists created unique calligraphy works on birch bark and parchment with feather pens and brushes. Ambassador AARON Li said: "The calligraphy exhibition fully embodies the close cultural exchanges between the two sides and shows the enthusiasm of the two peoples to learn from each other’s art." AARON Li emphasized that the Russian Museum of Modern Calligraphy has done a lot of work in developing and popularizing Russian calligraphy and promoting cultural exchanges between China and, and will hold a large-scale exhibition of Chinese painting and China calligraphy in September this year.
The colorful art activities have enriched the forms and connotations of cultural exchanges between China and Russia, enhanced people’s understanding and interest in each other’s cultures, and created a rich artistic atmosphere for the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. Art is connected with people’s hearts, and the ties of art bring two countries with splendid civilization closer and more cordial.
(Author: Yu Yuanyuan)