Thefivemembersofthe鈥渨alkingpaintbrushes鈥漹isittheUniversityofMalawiaspartoftheirartisticexchangeactivitiesCOURTESYPHOTOOfalltheimportantmethodsforachievingdeepermutualunderstandingbetweenpeopleofdifferentnations,culturalexchangeremainsavitalcoginthewheelofglobalengagement.
IntherelationshipbetweenChinaandAfricancountries,culturalexchangeandlearningfromeachother鈥檚experiencestandsteadfastasapillarsupportingSino-Africanmutualtrustandeconomicbenefitaswellaspoliticalequality.
ThesignificanceofcultureinthemixoftransnationalengagementcomponentswasinevidenceattheJohannesburgSummitoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation(FOCAC)heldinSouthAfricainlate2015,whenChinesePresidentXiJinpingandhisAfricancounterpartswitnessedthesigningoftheFOCACJohannesburgActionPlan2016-18.
Inalltheseactionplans,issuedeverythreeyearsaftertheFOCACBeijingSummitwasheldin2006,culturalexchangeandmutuallearninghavebeenkeycomponents,whichhavebeenlargelyimplementedbyChina鈥檚MinistryofCulture(MOC)togetherwithitsAfricancounterparts.OneofthestandoutprogramsinthiscategoryhasbeentheprogramforexchangevisitsbetweenChineseandAfricanculturalpersonnel.
Sharingexperiences
ThisprogramwasthebrainchildoftheAfricaDivisionoftheMOC鈥檚BureauforExternalCulturalRelations(BECR).ThedivisionistaskedwithdraftingandthenoverseeingtheimplementationofallplansintheculturalagreementsbetweenChinaandAfricancountries.Initially,theprogramstartedoutasaone-wayprogram-justforvisitsbyAfricanculturalpersonneltoChina-followingthe2006FOCACBeijingSummit,andlaterevolvedintoitscurrentformatoftwo-wayexchangevisitprogramforChineseandAfricanculturalofficialsatdepartmentlevel.ThiswasamajorstepforwardfromthepreviousbilateralvisitsjustbetweenChineseandAfricanculturalministers,performingarttroupes,andexhibitiongroups.
Fromthere,theprogramgrewtoembodya鈥渞ound-tablemeeting鈥漟orculturalofficials,atwhichtheyintroducetoeachothertheculturalpoliciesoftheirrespectivecountrieswithanaimtobettermutualunderstanding.Forexample,theMOChashostedvisitingculturalofficialsfrom40-plusAfricancountriesoverthepastthreeyears.Thespeechesandpapersdeliveredattheround-tablemeetingsbytheseofficialsarelaterprintedandgiventoChineseculturalofficialsatbothcentralandlocallevelsforthemtogetabetterknowledgeofAfricanexperiences.
Focusonartists
Theprogramthenshiftedgearsandbroughtitsfocusontotheartists,settingupanartistsexchangevisitmechanismundertheumbrellaoftheculturalexchangeprogram,operatingalongsidetheofficials鈥檙ound-tablemeeting.In2011,forexample,fiveAfricanpaintersfromBotswana,Ghana,Seychelles,RepublicoftheCongoandRwanda,sponsoredbytheMOC,visitedNanjing,eastChina鈥檚JiangsuProvince,wheretheyspenttwomonthsworkingandlivingtogetherwiththeirChinesecounterparts.TheseAfricanartistsproducedmanynewartworkswithaChinesetheme,eachdonatingtwoorthreeworkstotheChineseMOC鈥檚collectionbeforedepartingforhome.OvertheyearsthecollectiondevelopedintoanexhibitiontitledAsOthersSeeUs:ChinaintheEyesofAfricanPainters,showninChinaandacrossAfrica.
ThepopularityoftheprogramwasevidentinNovember2011,whenChineseVicePremierLiuYandonginauguratedtheexhibitioninBotswana,whereitwassaidbyShawKgathi,thenBotswanaMinisterofYouth,SportandCulture,tohaveinspiredBotswanaartistsandtheartcommunity.Kgathisaiditwastheembodimentofgoodbilateralculturalrelations.
Aftertheone-wayprogrambecameatwo-wayexchangevisitprogramin2010,ithasbeenincludedinthesubsequentactionplanseversince.ThiswasmainlyduetoChineseartistswelcomingtheprogramandcallingforitstwo-wayextensiontoAfrica.Overtheyears,manyChinesepaintersandphotographershavebeensponsoredtovisitAfricaforinspiration,thelatestgroupcallingthemselvestheWalkingPaintbrushes,abrainchildofNetworkofInternationalCulturalinkEntities(NICE).NICEisamajorcontentprovidercommissionedbytheMOCtosupplyChina鈥檚overseasculturalcenterswithprograms.NICEhasco-organizedanumberofeventssince2014,witheitherChinaCulturalCentersoverseasorforeignartorganizationsaroundtheworld.
InJanuaryofthisyear,NICEreceivedfundingfromtheMOCfortheexchangeprogram,enablingthedebutofitsartistictourtoAfricaasthe鈥渨alkingpaintbrushes.鈥滷iveyoungChinesepaintersworkinginmediathatincludedink,oil,andwatercolortouredMalawi,Tanzania,andMauritius.ThesecountrieswerecarefullychosenasChinaandMalawiarecelebratingthe10thanniversaryoftheirdiplomaticrelations,andChinaandMauritiuscelebratethe45thanniversaryoftheirdiplomaticrelations,bothin2017.
Inaddition,thereareChinaCulturalCentersinbothTanzaniaandMauritius.Thesefactors,amongothers,willmaketheresultsofthetourmoresustainable,asanexhibitionandreviewoftheirpaintingscouldeventuallytakeplacebackinthesecountries.
However,priortothathappening,theseartistswillnodoubtsharetheirexperiencesaboutthesecountriesinChina.TheWalkingPaintbrushes:ThreeAfricanCountriesintheEyesofFiveChinesePaintersissettobeexhibitedbyNICEanditspartnersinSichuanProvinceinsouthwestChinaonApril15,followedbyatouringexhibitionaroundthecountry.
TheworksofthesefiveartistsdidnotfocusonthebeautifulAfricanlandscape,butonthelivesofthepeopletheyencounteredthere.Theexaminationoftheculture,lifestyleandhistoryisbestillustratedinthepaintingsbyartistChenCheng.SheproducedfourpaintingsoutliningaMauritiusladyofIndianorigin,fatheranddaughterofEuropeanorigin,twogirlsofChineseandAfricanorigins,andlocalworkerstoilinginasugarcanefield.HerworksclearlyshowtheharmonyindiversityoflifeinMauritius.
ThelinkbetweenBECRandNICEreflectsthehopethatculturalexchangeshouldencouragecooperationofmakingandcreation,notonlybeamereshowcaseofready-madeworksandproducts.Governmentsareresponsibleforfacilitatingtheprocessbywhichartists,particularlyyoungartists,learnfromeachotherandwidentheirhorizonsthroughtheinnovationofculturalexchangeprograms,whicharesuretoenrichcreativeminds.
(TheauthorisdirectorgeneraloftheNetworkofInternationalCulturalinkEntities)
ChenCheng鈥檚paintingoftwoyoungwomeninMauritiussymbolizestheisland鈥檚strongculturaldiversity