Modern Express News (reporter Jiang Zhenjun) February 2 is the 26th World Wetlands Day, and the first World Wetlands Day after the United Nations General Assembly established February 2 every year as "World Wetlands Day" in August 2021. This year's theme is "Cherishing Wetlands, Harmonious Coexistence between Man and Nature". The Modern Express reporter learned that the full-time artists of the Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum spent more than a year creating a number of literary and artistic works related to the Yancheng wetland, calling on everyone to cherish the wetland and protect the ecological environment.
Yancheng is widespread because of the vast wetland, the coastal intertidal tidal flats preserved, is the west coast of the Pacific Ocean and the edge of the Asian continent with the largest area, the best ecological protection of the coastal wetland, is one of the few original coastal belts in the mainland and even in the world, and has become the largest coastal wetland nature reserve in the mainland. In 2019, it was awarded the World Natural Heritage Site and is known as the "Wetland Capital of the East".
The area is also the largest wintering ground for the world's red-crowned cranes and the main stop for the north-south migration of 23 species of internationally important birds, providing valuable natural habitats for rare and endangered animals such as red-crowned cranes, black-billed gulls, river elk and elk; supporting the survival of 17 IUCN Red List species, which is of great significance in global biodiversity conservation.
"Yancheng fills the gap in the continental coastal wetlands and becomes the world's second Intertidal Wetland Heritage Site." As a literary and artistic worker in Yancheng, Xia Yiyi is very proud, in recent years, he has created many calligraphy, paintings and sculptures with wetlands as materials, used literary and artistic works to "amplify the world heritage" effect, publicized his hometown with practical actions, called for wetland protection, and practiced the mission and responsibility of art workers.
△ Xia Yi building
Xia Yiyi, a 43-year-old from Dongtai, graduated from Nanjing Academy of the Arts and Nanjing University. He is currently a full-time artist at Jiangsu Art Museum and the chairman of Yancheng Sculptors Association. He was awarded the title of "Advanced Individual of the National Organization of the Central Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy". His works have been collected by the National Art Museum of China and the Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum, and have been selected for the 13th National Fine Arts Exhibition, the 5th National Youth Art Works Exhibition, and won the 4th Jiangsu Wenhua Award.
In order to vigorously promote the 26th World Wetland Day, more than a year ago, Xia Yidong immersed himself in creation and launched 7 works on February 2, including sculptures such as "A True Story", "The Kidney of the Earth, Crane deer and deer in the same spring", "Crane Ming Jiugao" and "Return of the Deer King", salt sculpture "Wetland Auspicious Three Treasures", oil painting "Wetland Spirit", and Chinese painting "Auspicious Three Treasures".
According to Xia Yiyi, the sculpture of "A True Story" is based on Xu Xiujuan, China's first "ecological guardian", using small freehand techniques to create a soft and idyllic scene; the sculpture of "The Return of the Deer King" records the return of 42 elk from London, England on August 13, 1986; the sculpture of "Crane Singing Jiugao" uses the fairy bird red-crowned crane as the element, and the double crane rides the clouds and waves, expressing the beautiful vision of the people of Yancheng to unite and develop to the sea.
The Modern Express reporter noted that xia Yiyi's 2 paintings depicted wetland mudflats, the sea as a long-range view, and the picture depicted the red-crowned crane, elk and spoon-billed sandpiper known as the "auspicious three treasures" of Yancheng Wetland, with virtual reality, dynamic and static echo, light and dark intersecting, dry and wet fusion.
"Wetlands are the most beautiful heritage left by the earth to mankind, yancheng is a city that has grown up on wetlands," Xia Yiyi said, he will continue to use his hands to depict and shape the beach wetlands, cranes dancing deer singing, with works to tell the people of the world to come to Yancheng Damei Wetland, feel the wonderful radiation sand ridges, the magnificent wonders of millions of migratory birds, lyrics of the great beauty of China, the beauty of Yancheng.