Wu Weishan: Building a bridge of cultural exchange in the form of art

General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the opening ceremony of the Eleventh National Congress of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Tenth National Congress of the China Writers Association shines with the light of Marxist theory throughout, fully demonstrating that the cause of literature and art is an important cause of the party and the people. When you hear "The party and the people need you, trust you, thank you!" At that time, my blood was boiling, and the general secretary's high trust in literary and art workers turned into unlimited motivation, which strengthened our faith and determination to drum and shout for the cause of great national rejuvenation.

General Secretary Xi Jinping hopes that we will "care about the great cause of national rejuvenation and enthusiastically depict the magnificent atmosphere of the new journey in the new era." Over the past one hundred years, the Communist Party of China has integrated the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific reality and with China's excellent traditional culture, united and led the Chinese people to paint a magnificent and magnificent picture in the history of human development on this vast land, and wrote the most magnificent epic in the history of the Chinese nation for thousands of years. The National Art Museum of China has a collection of 130,000 classic works, including a series of major works showing the history of the Chinese Communist Party in the past century, and there is no shortage of excellent works that people are familiar with.

Outstanding works expressing the revolution, such as the Yan'an prints born in the Beacon Era, inspire national morale with a distinct and profound artistic image; such as Shi Lu's Chinese painting "Turning to Northern Shaanxi" (national museum of China) shows the image of the revolutionary leader's strategizing with a magnificent composition of a high mountain. Outstanding works expressing construction, such as Wu Zuoren's oil painting "Sanmenxia Construction Site", show the magnificence of Sanmenxia and praise the enthusiasm and achievements of socialist construction; Guan Shanyue's Chinese painting "Green Great Wall" embodies the spirit and strength of coastal people who are determined to transform nature and defend their homes and defend the country and protect the sea frontier. Outstanding works expressing reform and opening up, such as Guang Tingbo's oil painting "Molten Steel and Sweat", depict the labor scenes of young workers sweating like rain in front of the blazing steel-making furnace, showing their hard-working spirit and tough and simple character; Zhan Jianjun's oil painting "Tide" depicts the pride and ambition of peasants in the new era of reform and opening up with romantic feelings. Excellent works showing the new era, such as the evergreen oil painting "Unnamed Lakeside" shows General Secretary Xi Jinping's ardent expectations for the young generation; Shang Yadong's oil painting "The Most Beautiful Taihu Lake Water" takes the prevention and control of lake water pollution as the starting point, showing the joy, self-confidence and positive enterprising of young scientific and technological workers.

Behind each classic work is a touching and profound story of party history, showing the unique artistic charm of the art classics, these red classic art works are unforgettable, straight to the heart, with epic and inspiring power. Literary and art workers should do a good job in research, creation, display, and dissemination, and a good structure that highlights the Chinese spirit and urges people to forge ahead, and live up to the great era.

General Secretary Xi Jinping hopes that we will "adhere to the principle of innovation and use the fine works that keep up with the times to open up a new realm of literature and art", therefore, if fine art works want to truly enter the hearts of contemporary people, the only way to break through the solidified mode of thinking and expression style with new aesthetic creations, and to use new content and new forms to statue the people and erect a monument for the times. For example, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's national thematic art creation project carefully plans and selects topics, focuses on realistic themes, and reflects the historical achievements and historic changes in the cause of the party and the country in the past 40 years of reform and opening up, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the unremitting struggle of the Chinese people to realize the Chinese dream. At the same time, through the holding of national thematic art creation research classes, teaching to promote teaching with creation, and teaching to promote creation, it is of great significance in producing fine products, talents, driving the teaching and theoretical research of thematic art creation, and strengthening the construction of the echelon of thematic art creation talents, and has achieved significant comprehensive benefits.

To explore the expression methods that occur in the development and innovation of art, it also means that the means of display and dissemination are eclectic, and the beauty of Chinese history, mountains and rivers, and culture is displayed in a language close to the new era, and the spiritual atmosphere of the new era is displayed in an all-round and panoramic manner. In recent years, the National Art Museum of China has held more than 600 various activities relying on the collection of fine works and new creations, showing the peak of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign art through the "Collection Revitalization Series Exhibition", promoting the artist's feelings of home and country through the "Donation and Collection Series Exhibition", highlighting the Chinese aesthetic spirit through the "Carry Forward Chinese Spirit Series Exhibition", and strengthening international cultural dialogue through the "International Exchange Series Exhibition". The National Art Museum of China has continuously sorted out the outstanding works in its collection, toured all parts of the country, copied the fine works of relevant themes, and sent them to the old revolutionary areas, to the border areas, and to the ethnic minority areas, so as to better publicize the history of the party, so that the research, creation, and dissemination of the three are integrated, forming a joint force for publicizing the history of the party. In June 2021, the National Art Museum of China held the "Great Journey of the Times Picture Scroll - Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China", the exhibition takes time to narrate the clues, presents the centenary history of the Communist Party of China with more than 420 works of art, and also innovatively uses VR panoramic technology, virtual experience, intelligent tour and other technologies to synchronize the online panoramic exhibition hall. Audiences can watch the exhibition online anytime and anywhere, listening to well-known hosts, performing artists, voice actors vividly telling the works and party history stories, with a cumulative number of views exceeding 300 million people, arousing concern and heated discussion from all walks of life. It also provides a number of classics for the production of programs such as "Party History in Fine Arts Classics" and "China in Fine Arts" of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, and enhances the artistic appeal through cross-border cooperation.

In 2022, the National Art Museum of China and the Central Radio and Television Corporation jointly hosted the "Exhibition of Fine Arts on the Theme of Sports in Anticipation of the Winter Olympics" to promote the fitness of the whole people and promote cultural integration; they will also organize creation and plan to host the "Exhibition of Fine Arts Celebrating the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China" to raise the banner and gather people's hearts with beauty; and the "Exhibition of Art Works on the Theme of the Long March" to display the national spirit and spread the red gene.

General Secretary Xi Jinping hopes that we will "tell the Story of China with affection and strength, and show the world a credible, lovely and respectable image of China", so we must create more Chinese cultural images recognized by the world and let the capitalized "Chinese" stand in the world. The history of the Chinese nation's arduous struggle has created a great spirit, which is the existence of credible people and things in history and reality, the existence of ordinary and noble people with lovely and warm in the emotional world, and the existence of respectable outstanding heroes and models of the times at the height of the spirit. Through the shaping of great people, philosophers and heroic models who carry the spirit of the Chinese nation, it can show a vivid and three-dimensional China, so that the national image with unique recognition can become an effective carrier for telling Chinese stories.

From 1985, when I created the large-scale sculpture "The New Fourth Army Marching East" to last year, I created the large-scale sculpture "Banner"... Over the past 36 years, I have combined Marxism with China's excellent historical and traditional culture, and cast the great national spirit and red genes into my works, and the "Marx" I have created stands in Germany and the "Centennial Monument" stands in France, and they use art to expound the story of China and the story of the Communist Party of China. I have created nearly 600 characters representing the history of the Chinese nation, of which more than 50 are important places in more than 20 countries and regions in the world. For example, "Divine Encounter - Dialogue between Confucius and Socrates" in Arago Square in Athens, Greece, "The Door of the Soul - Dialogue between the Ukrainian Poet Shevchenko and the Chinese Poet Saint Du Fu" at the Embassy of Ukraine in China, and "Dialogue Beyond Time and Space - Da Vinci and Qi Baishi" at the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum in Italy, all take "dialogue" as the theme, express the common values of mankind of "peace" and "equality", and build a bridge of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries in the form of art.

"The new era needs literary and artistic masters, and it is also completely capable of creating literary and artistic masters!" General Secretary Xi Jinping's exhortations are still in our ears, we must strengthen cultural self-confidence, do not forget the original intention, keep in mind the mission, live up to the times and the people, and make new and greater contributions to the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country and the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

(The author is vice chairman of the China Artists Association and director of the National Art Museum of China)