A sharing seminar is held during the launch of The Artworks Exhibition of Canal Chic: Reviving China's Heritagein Beijing on Jan 22, 2025. [Photo provided tochinadaily.com.cn]
The Artworks Exhibition of Canal Chic: Reviving China's Heritage, showcasing dozens of paintings, illustrations and posters themed on the Grand Canal, was launched with a sharing seminar on Wednesday at the Kerry Center in Beijing.
The exhibition, running until Jan 24, is the result of a worldwide campaign organized by China Daily Multimedia to promote the Grand Canal through art. It is part of a large-scale celebration to mark the 10th anniversary of the world's longest man-made waterway being recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ke Rongyi, president of China Daily Multimedia and director of China Daily New Media Center, said at the launch that the campaign has received warm responses from artists at home and abroad since its launch in July.
More than 150 artworks were selected through an online open call and two cultural tours, to Yangzhou and Xuzhou in Jiangsu province and Luoyang in Henan province, where creatives delved into the roots of the ancient artificial waterway by visiting museums and talking to heritage experts and inheritors, he said.
Indonesian painter Dr HC MAS Hedi Suryatna poses with his two paintings inspired by the Grand Canal in Beijing on Jan 22, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
During the seminar, six artists from China, Indonesia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan shared how they borrowed inspiration from the canal that has flowed for more than a millennium.
"When I saw the canal in Yangzhou that was dug in the 7th century with my own eyes, I was very impressed by the Chinese government which has preserved its historical heritage so well," said Indonesian painter Dr HC MAS Hedi Suryatna.
Suryatna's trip to Jiangsu inspired him to create two paintings—one of the Wuting Bridge that stretches across the Slender West Lake and the other of a ferryman crossing a river in an idyllic water town—in a Fauvist style featuring bold colors and textured brushwork.
Kyrgyzstan artist Meerim Dzhunushalieva’s work is on show at The Artworks Exhibition of Canal Chic: Reviving China's Heritage in Beijing on Jan 22, 2025. [Photo by Yang Xiaoyu/chinadaily.com.cn]
"The Grand Canal is an unbelievable marvel of engineering that weaves together centuries of Chinese culture, innovation and resilience," said Meerim Dzhunushalieva, a Beijing-based Kyrgyzstan student.
"As I stood by the Grand Canal, I felt as though the stones beneath my feet carried the weight of generations filled with whispers from the past, and each relic we visited felt like a key unlocking untold stories. It was a powerful reminder that history is something that lives within us, shaping who we are and how we see the world," she added.
Dzhunushalieva used acrylic pouring techniques to create Grand Canal, which features clear, flowing water with floating lotuses, which she saw in abundance during her trips to Yangzhou and Xuzhou.
Chinese illustrator Fu Lu’s work is on show at The Artworks Exhibition of Canal Chic: Reviving China's Heritage in Beijing on Jan 22, 2025. [Photo by Yang Xiaoyu/chinadaily.com.cn]
Fu Lu, an illustrator with a keen interest in Chinese mythology, described visiting the Luoyang Museum and the Suitang Grand Canal Museum as akin to travelling back in time, enabling her to see how the canal's excavation gave rise to the prosperity of Luoyang in the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907).
The Luoyang trip inspired Fu to produce the Dreaming Back to Mountain and Seaseries, which captured the impression of the Grand Canal and the ancient capital.
The Foundation byDaniya Yerinkyzy, an artist and graphic designer from Kazakhstan, ondisplayat The Artworks Exhibition of Canal Chic: Reviving China's Heritage in Beijing on Jan 22, 2025.[Photo by Yang Xiaoyu/chinadaily.com.cn]
Daniya Yerinkyzy, an artist and graphic designer from Kazakhstan, wove the images of the relics, such as the turquoise-inlaid bronze plaque, the Buddha at the Longmen Grottoes and the Tang tri-colored glazed pottery that she saw at Luoyang museums, into two collage-like paintings which she titled The Foundation and Spirit.
"In our nomadic lifestyle, we don't have as many artifacts as China does. At the museums I gained a lot of inspiration and I think those garments and figurines can be used in contemporary fashion and the colors of ancient vases can also enrich modern designs," she said.
Ukrainian artist Annette Golden’s work is inspired by Wu Zetian, China's only female emperor. [Photo by Yang Xiaoyu/chinadaily.com.cn]
Ukrainian artist Annette Golden shared that her trip to Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), enabled her to learn the story of China's only female emperor, Wu Zetian. During her reign from 690 to 705, Wu brought about needed social changes with strong leadership that stabilized the dynasty and ushered in one of the most fruitful ages of Chinese civilization.
"An empress of China gave me, a Ukrainian artist, strength, hope for a better future and motivation to never give up. I felt the strength to come back to my art, to my projects and to the things that make me me," she wrote in an article about her painting Threads of Resilience, which Wu heavily inspired.
Guests pose for a group photo at the launch of The Artworks Exhibition of Canal Chic: Reviving China's Heritage in Beijing on Jan 22, 2025. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Spirit by Daniya Yerinkyzy, an artist and graphic designer from Kazakhstan, ondisplayat The Artworks Exhibition of Canal Chic: Reviving China's Heritagei n Beijing on Jan 22, 2025.[Photo by Yang Xiaoyu/chinadaily.com.cn]
