On August 17, 2018, the press conference for the preparation and launch?of “Colorful World and Same Destiny” the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale, China was held at the lecture hall of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. It was jointly sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Beijing Municipal Government and the China Artists Association, and organized by China Artists Association, the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale (abbr. Beijing Biennale) themed on “Colorful World and Same Destiny” will be held at the National Art Museum of China from August 26 to September 23 in 2019.

At the press conference, Zuo Zhongyi, Chief Curator of the exhibition and Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and Xu Li, Chief Curator of the exhibition, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Artists Association and Vice Chairman and Secretary General delivered a speech in succession. Wu Weishan, Chief Curator of the exhibition, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association and Director of National Art Museum of China, Guan Yu, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, and Wang Yong, the convener of the exhibition committee and a researcher of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, respectively answered questions from journalists. The cultural and news officials of embassies from more than 30 countries, including Panama, Sri Lanka, Malta, Tajikistan, Italy, Mexico, Russian Federation, Serbia and Switzerland, as well as more than 50 representatives of artists and more than 60 Chinese and foreign media attended the conference. Tao Qin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Artists Association, Deputy Secretary-General and the convener of the Beijing International Art Biennale exhibition committee, presided over the conference.

Focusing on the changes of society, the development of the world and the well-being of people are the same pursuit of artists from all over the world. Based on the current background of the times and the sacred mission of art, the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale is themed on “Colorful World and Same Destiny”. “Colorful world” refers to the cultural diversity of the world, and “same destiny” refers to the community of human destiny. Zuo Zhongyi, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, first delivered a speech at the press conference.

Xu Li, Vice Chairman of the China Artists Association, emphasized that the Beijing International Art Biennale has always been the most important platform for the international exchanges held by China Artists Association. Themed on “Colorful World and Same Destiny”, the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale was held to invite artists from all over the world to use their works to present the strongest sounds of the times. The use of the same worldwide artistic language to tell Chinese stories is the historical mission of contemporary Chinese artists. With the vision of “Chinese stories and human theme”, artists should tell effective stories that Chinese people and foreigners can clearly understand and resonate. In addition, he said that in order to facilitate the artists to determine the theme and direction of the creation, it specially arranged sub-topics corresponding to the theme of “Colorful World and Same Destiny”, which are alterative themes for the Chinese and foreign artists, thus it will help the artists presenting a multi-angle, multi-level and three-dimensional appearance.

Subsequently, Wu Weishan, Chief curator of the exhibition, Vice Chairman of China Artists Association and Director of National Art Museum of China, Guan Yu, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, and Wang Yong, the convener of the exhibition committee and a researcher of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, answered questions from journalists in the section of questions and answers.

At present, the Beijing International Art Biennale has a certain influence on the art circles in China and the world. It will continue to reform and open on the basis of existing achievements, and to constantly improve the quality of art and continuing to make it perfect. “Colorful World and Same Destiny” is the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale. The colorful world symbolizes and ushers in a bright future, which is the same destiny of mankind. The 8th Beijing International Art Biennale coincides with the flourishing age of the new epoch. It is confident to show Chinese programs and the vision of the world from the perspective of art.

In current era of globalization, the destiny of human beings from all countries of the world is more closely linked than ever. People are closely connected with each other, living interdependently and sharing weal and woe. The world today is not peaceful, and it reveals many problems, many contradictions, intensified oppositions, and constant conflicts.

It is impossible for any country to return to a self-enclosed island, and all countries have to face global problems. Environmental degradation, local conflicts, threats of nuclear war, terrorism, refugee flows, financial crises, the gap between the rich and the poor, epidemics, etc., are problems?faced?by all people regardless of which race people belong to, and the dilemmas are related to each other, and there is not any country that is able to deal with it alone. China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, a defender of the international order, and it blends?“Chinese narrative” and Chinese programs into the global governance. A?philosophy of “one world, one family” that Chinese people have believed in since ancient times, the world view of “harmony in diversity”, the view of nature of “harmony between the heaven and man”, the aesthetics of “taking harmony as the stander of beauty”, and the interpersonal view of “harmony is in the first place”, will make the international order and the global governance system more fair and equitable, which will become the main theme of globalization and the new era of global governance. It opens and strengthens the harmonious development of China and the world.

The core of the building a community of?human destiny is peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit. It does not only apply to international politics and economics but also apply to international cultural exchanges. The diversity of world culture is both the basic feature of human civilization and the source of human progress. In line with the trend of peace, development, cooperation and win-win result, we advocate respecting the diversity of world culture, breaking cultural barriers through cultural exchanges, resolving the clash of civilizations by mutually learning civilizations, and we make cultural exchanges and mutual understanding of civilizations a bridge for enhancing the friendship between peoples, a force to drive human society developed, and a bond of the safeguarding of world peace. It promotes the construction of the community of human destiny through the presentation of the diversity of world culture, which is the meaning of the theme of the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale.

Contemporary artists should have a global vision and human feelings, keenly grasping the pulse of the spirit of the times, focusing the same destiny of mankind, linking their artistic creation with the same destiny of mankind, and improving?the spiritual and cultural character and the artistic expression of the works. Regarding the thematic creation of the 8th Beijing International Art Biennale, the specific exploration, selection and transformation of creative materials should fully respect the individual choices of artists under the premise of obeying the rules of artistic creation. It hopes that artists from all over the world will be connected with the theme of the exhibition in terms of spiritual connotation, injecting the cultural connotation and artistic concept of the new era, from a unique perspective, using many forms and individualized forms to create colorful stories, images, visions and revelations from different countries through perceptible ways of visual art, together creating a grand blueprint for the community of human destiny.

Photo and text courtesy of the organizer

Text edited by Yang Zhonghui, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO