At No. 1 Wusi Avenue in Beijing, the "City of The Two Olympics", next to the "Imperial City Root Ruins", there is China's only national museum of plastic art. White Chinese-style buildings, flying layers of magnificent yellow heavy eaves, under the eaves of the plaque inscription: National Art Museum of China.
Here is a temple of beauty, with a series of unspoken paintings, recording and showing love and life that have not faded with the passage of time.
Exterior view of the National Art Museum of China. Courtesy of respondents
At the moment when the epidemic prevention and control situation is grim, on the occasion of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the 9th China Beijing International Art Biennale with the theme of "Light of Life" is being held here. 707 works (groups) by 573 artists from 117 countries and regions around the world light up the "light of life" here.
The Light of Life. Respondents provided
Chasing the Olympic Light
The integration of sports and art is the proper meaning of the modern Olympic spirit. Modern Olympic pioneer Coubertin said: "Sport must create beauty and provide opportunities for beauty." It creates beauty because it creates living sculptures— athletes; it offers opportunities for beauty because it brings beauty through architecture, scenes, and celebrations. ”
"Sports Power, Dreams Stirring". Respondents provided
During the Biennale, walking into the National Art Museum of China, people are all infected by the beauty of sports. On the oil painting "Sports Power, Dream Stirring" created by painters Wang Xuexian, Yan Yaya and Wang Xueru, a "strong light" crosses the picture, representing the light of life in the history of Chinese sports.
Painter Li Hongjun's Chinese painting "Light of Life" is considered to be "the encyclopedic work of winter sports", showing the vivid scenes of various ice and snow sports, and the queue of athletes and people from all over the world on the picture reflects the spirit of unity and fraternity in building a community with a shared future for mankind.
In fact, this is the second "handshake" between the National Art Museum of China and the Olympic Games. In 2008, the theme of the Third Beijing Biennale, which accompanied the Beijing Summer Olympics, was "Color and the Olympics", and the theme of this biennale, "Light of Life", was in line with the same lineage, continuing the diversified orientation of art.
"Art and sport are naturally linked, and sport is the source of beauty." Tao Qin, the main curator of this biennale and deputy secretary of the party group of the China Artists Association, said.
Hu Qi'an (right) and Hu Yishan exhibit copying works. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Haochen
Before the painter Zhang Xiang's work "Together to the Future - Welcome to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics", children sat on the ground and copied it carefully. Fan Zhuoer, a 5th grade elementary school student, drew "ice piers" on a tablet, and her good friend Li Yimo designed an icon for the National Aquatics Center; 8-year-old Hu Qi'an collaged the words 2022 with Olympic elements such as athletes, ice rinks, and snowy mountains; and her 4-year-old sister Hu Yishan depicted a childlike Olympic arena...
Li Yimo (left) and Van Zhuoer show off their work. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Haochen
Wang Zijie, 12, likes the picture of "ice piers" and "snow rongrong" running side by side and holding up torches, because it embodies the spirit of "faster, higher, stronger and more united" in the Winter Olympics, she said, hoping to use the brush to "cheer for the athletes".
Wang Zijie paints in the art museum. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Haochen
Remembering the light of humanity in the fight against the epidemic
"It has always been frozen in ice and snow, who is it to force the spring back?" This is a poem written by the Song Dynasty poet Lu You in "Falling Plum". In Tao Qin's view, looking at the present, it is the white-clad angels who save lives and the people who heroically fight the epidemic.
At the Biennale, two works on the theme of fighting the epidemic attracted special attention. One is Ding Zhiwei's "Light of Life", which tells the story of China's fight against the epidemic from the outbreak to the control of the epidemic to the difficulties in a long scroll of group portrait paintings, and the image of Zhong Nanshan in the volume is portrayed in detail.
"Fighting the Epidemic with One Heart", Foshan Volume. Respondents provided
Another painting, "Fighting the Epidemic with One Heart", written by Zhong Nanshan himself, is inspired by the Song Dynasty's "Map of the Qingming River", which condenses the scenic spots of Foshan and Guangzhou and the hundreds of characters from all walks of life and in the local anti-epidemic action into a slowly unfolding picture scroll with scattered perspective. Medical staff, police, civilians, delivery workers... The gestures and movements of each character come to life. Foshan Ancestral Temple, Foshan Youth Cultural Palace, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Guangzhou Municipal People's Government... The doors, windows, and colonnades of each building are reproduced.
"It was very shocking to see the scene of the nucleic acid test. The weather is very hot, there are many volunteers, medical workers involved, I can feel the feelings of everyone working together to defeat the epidemic, I hope to convey the spirit of Chinese not afraid of difficulties, unity and hard work through the work. Chen Zhijie, author of "Fighting the Epidemic with One Heart", said.
Zhao Yuling, an audience member at the scene, said that through the "Qingming River Map", today's people can get a glimpse of the life of the Song people, and perhaps in the millennium, future generations will also understand the extraordinary course of the contemporary people and the fight against the epidemic through "Fighting the Epidemic with One Heart".
The audience is visiting the exhibition. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Haochen
Chen Zhijie believes that the artistic creation during the epidemic period reflects people's concern for society, and hopes to pass on hope and confidence to the people around them through their works, so that society can become better. He said that although the scenes in the paintings take place in Guangdong, the anti-epidemic story is national and global.
As the French painter Renoir said, pain will pass and beauty will remain. As an art form that originates from life and is higher than life, fine art reminds us of the glory of human nature. When mankind defeats the epidemic, what remains in the common memory is a lovely and respectable living life in the fight against the epidemic.
Chantal Andrea Barthélemy's Towards the Light. Respondents provided
Convergence of chinese and foreign art light
This Beijing Biennale features not only works by Chinese artists, but also foreign masterpieces from all over the world.
"Olympic Spirit" from France, "Towards the Light", and "Woodblock Prints" from Italy, convey the same fiery sportsmanship with different painting styles and different color brushstrokes, and realize the "people-to-people connection" in art.
Indonesian painter Rutheri's pen, heavily armed epidemic prevention personnel embracing the earth into deep thought, conveying concerns about the epidemic; in the Lebanese painter's "Expectation", the blonde girl takes off her mask on the balcony and looks into the distance, looking forward to the future; in the Cambodian painter's "If There is no new coronavirus", people dance indulgently...
The audience is watching the exhibition. The painting on the wall is "Hardship and Hope" by Indonesian painter Ruseri. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Haochen
"Art can provide a channel for people to unite against the epidemic and soothe their emotions during the epidemic." At the opening ceremony of the Biennale, Zhou Haoli, Indonesian Ambassador to China, representative of the embassies of the participating countries in China, said that the Beijing Biennale is not only an excellent platform for sharing the most beautiful and meaningful works of art from all over the world, but also a useful platform for showing mankind's bright future full of hope after the epidemic.
Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China, said that fine arts has become a bridge between the victory over the epidemic and the Olympic spirit, highlighting the background of building a community with a shared future for mankind. The theme of the exhibition, "Light of Life", covers the Olympic spirit and the anti-epidemic spirit, and the two spirits are highly compatible, reflecting the value, dignity, energy and brilliance of human life.
Tao Qin said that these works make us reflect on what art should do when society is facing difficulties.
In the National Art Museum of China, Chinese and foreign works gather "Olympic light", "light of humanity" and "light of art" - these are the light of life. In the eyes of the curators, the "Light of Life" Beijing Biennale is composing the praise of life in the language of visual art.
Chief planner: Zhao Danping
Coordinator: Wei Tiemin, Liu Kai
Producer: Min Jie
Reporter: Tan Yangxuan, Min Jie, Zhu Haochen, Hong Zehua, Meng Jia
Photography: Zhu Haochen, Hong Zehua, Lin Haofei (internship), Chen Kaijing (internship)
Video Producer: Hong Zehua
Editor: Zhu Haochen
Xinhua News Agency to the outside Xinhua News Agency Guangdong Branch co-produced
Produced by China Story Workshop