Daily-lifescenesofAfricancitiesareanimportantsourceofinspirationforChinesepainterFuXuming,asseenhereinoneofhispaintings
Artwork,somesay,isthewindowtoanartist鈥檚soul.Itisakintoajourneythatallowspeopletoseebeyondtheimmediateworldandrevealsdoorsleadingtonewknowledge,encountersandexperiences.
Ifthejourneyissometimesmetaphoricalorevenspiritual,andexpressestheartists鈥檔ever-endingquestforperfection,itcanalsomeantheconcreteandrealexperienceofamovementthroughspaceortime.
Fortheartistswhoarefeaturedinthisissue,thereisprobablyabitofboth.Forthismonth鈥檚coverstory,ChinAfricahasinterviewedChineseandAfricanartistswhohavetakenpartinculturalexchangeactivitiesbetweenthetwosides,andwhohavebeenkindenoughtoopenthedoorsoftheirstudiosandsharetheoutcomesofcross-culturalcooperation.
FromtheChinesepainterswhovisitedMalawi,TanzaniaandMauritiusinanunforgettableandinspiringtrip,totheAfricanartistswhocompletedanartresidencyinSichuanandZhejiangprovincesinChina,herearethetouchingandinvigoratingresultsofartist-to-artistexchanges.EachoftheircanvasisanopenwindowontheirsharedexperiencesthatnowlinktheartisticcommunitiesinChinaandAfrica.
TheseculturalexchangesweremadepossibleinlargepartbytheForumonChinaAfricaCooperationactionplansoverthepastyears.Indeed,asculturalandartisticexchangesbetween
ChinaandAfricacontinuestodevelop,anumberofinstitutions,amongwhicharetheNetworkofInternationalCulturalinkEntities,ChineseculturalcentersinAfrica,andChina鈥檚MinistryofCulture,havesteppedintosupportanddevelopthistrend.
SuchprogramsenablesomeoftheleadingpaintersinChinaandAfricatohaveauniqueandpersonalexperiencethroughexchangevisits,andthenshowcaseitintheirhomecountriesthroughtheircreations.
Likethem,ChinAfricainvitesyoutosteponajourneytoshare,connectandexpandyourhorizonsthroughart.Whoknows,maybeyouwillevendiscoverinyourselfagreathiddenartisticpotential.