SLCJF organises exhibition of China’s Contemporary Spanning Ink Art in Colombo

By Harsha Udayakantha Peiris

In commemoration of the 62nd National Day of the People’s Republic of China and the 10th anniversary of the Sri Lanka-China Journalists’ Forum (SLCJF), an exhibition of China’s Contemporary Spanning Ink Art was held on 24 and 25 November 2011 at the J.D.A. Perera Art Gallery of the Faculty of Visual Arts of the University of Visual and Performance Arts at Horton Place, Colombo 7. The exhibition was organised by the SLCJF as an initiative to assist and boost cultural and bilateral relations with China and as a totally free of charge Chinese arts exhibition for everyone to have a firsthand sight experience of contemporary Chinese arts being exhibited in Sri Lanka.

More than 30 artistic creations and drawings by highly professional Chinese artists from a number of institutions, including the Chinese Art Monthly Magazine, Nanjing Shangdong Contemporary Art Gallery, China Central Fine Arts Institute, Shanghai Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, the Art College of University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Jiangsu provincial Chinese Ink Painting Academy, Xiaolongshi Art Gallery of Xuzhou City and the Shanghai Hafu Artwork Investment Co., Ltd. were on display at the exhibition.

Over the past 30 years all realms of art and literature of China have flourished creating more works of extreme aesthetic delight through which the ranks of artists and writers have burgeoned and become more dynamic.

In 2006 China launched the ‘Paintings of Important Subjects Project’. Traditional arts have been carried forward and developed through the Ministry of Culture in China which has also organised several China Art festivals which have provided opportunities for troupes from around the nation to display their best achievements and learn from each other. The Chinese Contemporary Spanning Ink Art exhibition also included a workshop on spanning ink art creations for the students, conducted by the professional artists in Sri Lanka during the period.