In two days, I will have a video call with President Bach to congratulate the Success of the Winter Olympics. He came to Beijing this time in a closed loop, otherwise we would definitely meet. Wu Weishan is not only a "referee" who debuted on the ice pier and snow rongrong, but also participated in Olympic-related activities many times. He is very proud of this "Olympic fate".
As a native of Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, he created the large-scale sculpture Torchbearer for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games as early as 2014, and IOC President Bach also has his sculptures on his desk. On February 9, a modern express reporter interviewed Wu Weishan, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, director of the National Art Museum of China, expert member of the mascot design review team of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and artistic director of the Public Art Committee.
Created for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games
Large sculpture "Torchbearer"
Knocked on one of his doors with the Olympics
△ "Torchbearer" Wu Weishan created a sculpture for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games Qi Hongyan photographed
Driving on the main road of Nanjing Airport Expressway, you must not overlook this 36-meter-long sculpture - an athlete on a huge rainbow base holding a torch high and running forward in the sun. This sculpture is a large-scale Olympic-themed sculpture "Torchbearer" during the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, which conveys the sports spirit of enthusiasm, hard work and hard work to the world, and has become the cultural heritage of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games. Its designer is Wu Weishan.
The huge rainbow base symbolizes access and transcendence, symbolizes speed and strength. The torchbearer's exaggerated body shape expresses people's worship and praise for heroes, giants, and idols. It was this work that knocked on a door between Wu Weishan and the Olympics. This piece is like a rainbow, which is eye-catching. It shows the athlete's tenacious will to life and the strength and speed of the strong body, and embodies the abundant emotions of human beings. "This is the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas M. Bach's evaluation of the China Sculpture Institute when he visited the China Sculpture Institute in China in 2017. In the same year, a small manuscript of the torchbearer was collected by the International Olympic Museum.
In Wu Weishan's heart, these silent, three-dimensional sculptures are the endorsement of a city, standing somewhere in the city, silently telling the history and culture of a city. This is his original intention in making sculptures. The "Torch" created for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games is not the first relationship between this sculptor and the Olympics, his association with the Olympics has long been buried. "When we were in school, there were a lot of portraits and sculptures of famous people from the ancient Greek era in the back of the classroom, and I used to look at them there." The spark from ancient Greece thus ignited the Olympic flame in Wu Weishan's heart.
Coubertin's smile and Bach's hug
△ In 2016, Professor Wu Weishan created "Coubertin"
The large-scale sculpture "Torchbearer", created for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, knocked on a door between Wu Weishan and the Olympics. In 2017, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Coubertin's death, Wu Weishan was invited to create a smiling version of "Coubertin" at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne. Determined eyes, smiling lips ... It makes people feel that the father of the modern Olympic Games has never wavered in his will to develop sports.
△ IOC President Thomas Bach highly praised the statue of Coubertin created by Wu Weishan
Wu Weishan said that when he portrayed Coubertin, he grasped his slightly upturned beard as a feature, and conveyed a warm smile like a spring breeze with the technique of freehand sculpture, which achieved this vivid and three-dimensional image. Bach also spoke highly of the work, believing that the statue shaped Coubertin's image in a unique way. The statue's smile is both energetic and full of determination. Bach believes that "the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee finally has the smiling Coubertin of the Chinese sculptor Wu Weishan". In recognition of Wu Weishan's long-term contribution to Olympic culture, IOC President Baht presented Wu Weishan with the IOC President's Award. In 2017, Bach personally handed over the gold medal with the Olympic five-ring logo and the signature authorized by the President of the International Olympic Committee to Wu Weishan.
△ Wu Weishan took a group photo with President Bach at the headquarters of the Olympic Committee in 2020
On Bach's desk, in addition to "Smiling Coubertin" there is a statue of Confucius. In January 2020, at Bach's invitation, Wu Weishan visited the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, and presented him with the sculpture "Asking Questions – Confucius Asking Laozi". Wu Weishan believes that confucius's "shooting" and "royal" in the "six arts" of the gentleman have similar events in modern Olympic competitions. The "shooting" in Confucius's heart pays attention to the spirit of courtesy, cares about the fairness of competition, and reflects the struggle of gentlemen. This is consistent with the Olympic spirit that focuses on participation. Wu Weishan said: "The Olympic spirit and the Chinese nation's spirit of unremitting self-improvement are integrated and have a common value orientation, and the integration of sports and art is also the best example of the integration of 'strength and beauty'." We must show Chinese understanding and innovation of the Olympic spirit, and also show the image of a confident and self-reliant China to the multi-civilizational world. On that day, at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, Bach and Wu Weishan hugged each other closely, hoping to integrate the cause of beauty with the Olympic spirit.
I want to create more sports-related sculptures
△National Art Museum of China "Winter Olympics · Beauty in Pursuit of Dreams" Special Exhibition Photographed by Chen Xi
As the director of the National Art Museum of China, this year the National Art Museum of China held the "Winter Olympics and Beauty in Pursuit of Dreams - Exhibition of Sports-themed Fine Art Works Collected by the National Art Museum of China", through more than 160 classic sports works in the collection, using beauty as the medium to illustrate the beauty of Olympic competition and Olympic culture of "faster, higher, stronger and more united". Wu Weishan said that the National Art Museum of China has a collection of 130,000 fine art works, many of which are sports themes, such as the Chinese painting "Before the Decisive Battle", which expresses the spirit of the women's volleyball team, and the sculpture "Challenge", which shows the self-improvement of disabled athletes. The National Art Museum of China will plan and exhibit these works during the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games, and at the same time organize outstanding artists from all over the country to create art works on the theme of the Olympic Games, showing the sportsmanship of humanistic datong.
In the future, I want to create more sculptures related to the Olympics and sports. We have sculptures representing the Chinese women's volleyball team, and if we have the opportunity, we also want to create a sculpture for the Chinese women's football team, many of which are Fellows of Jiangsu. Wu Weishan said with a smile.
Source: Hyundai Express+
Special correspondent: Zhang Jin is Zhong Yin and Qian Nianqiu
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