BEIJING, May 29, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the
National Art Museum of China
(NAMOC) to develop itself into an art venue that enjoys worldwide
prestige.
Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of
China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military
Commission, made the call on Sunday in a reply letter to veteran
experts and artists of the NAMOC.
Xi extended warm congratulations and sincere greetings to all
members of the museum as it celebrates its 60th anniversary.
"The letter from Xi particularly moved us and made our hearts
surge," Wu Weishan, director of
NAMOC, said at the opening ceremony of a new exhibition to mark the
60th anniversary on Tuesday.
"It highly affirms the achievements of NAMOC, which witnessed
the vigorous development of China's fine art industry. The museum has
achieved positive results in establishing a high-quality
collection, holding exhibitions, educating the public and taking
part in cultural exchanges."
In the letter, Xi said the NAMOC has witnessed the thriving
development of art in new China.
By upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, it has
made notable achievements in collecting outstanding artworks,
holding exhibitions, facilitating public education, and promoting
international exchanges.
Xi expressed hope that the museum will strive to improve the
quality of its collection, promote high-standard utilization of
artworks, and provide better services. He called on the museum to
develop itself into an art venue that enjoys worldwide prestige and
to make greater contributions to the prosperity and development of
Chinese fine arts, building cultural confidence and strength, and
securing new successes in developing socialist culture.
The NAMOC, a national-level art gallery in China, was opened to the public on
May 23, 1963. Recently, 13 veteran
experts and artists of the NAMOC sent a joint letter to Xi,
recounting the development of the museum and expressing their
resolve to contribute to the high-quality development of art
museums in the new era.
Classic and diverse
Since its opening, NAMOC has presented a diverse program of
exhibitions and built a collection of over 130,000 objects,
including representative works of Chinese art masters from ancient
times to today. Among the treasures on display are seminal works
that have shaped Chinese art history, as well as nearly 4,000
international artworks, a considerable portion of which are classic
works in modern and contemporary art history both at home and
abroad.
To give more people access to these precious works, the museum
is hosting a new exhibition series titled Beauty in the New Era,
which showcases its classic collections and its commitment to
preserving China's cultural
traditions through exhibitions and research.
Nearly 600 artworks will be displayed at the museum in four
sections: Ink Splendor and Cultural Context: Exhibition of Bada
Shanren, Shi Tao and Chinese Xieyi
Art since the 20th Century, A Tribute to the Classics: An
Exhibition of Fine Arts from the Collection of NAMOC, Majestic
Baota Mountain and Yanhe River: Art
Exhibition with Ode to Spirit of the Long March and Spirit of
Yan'an and Prosperity in Diversity: Collection of International
Artworks from NAMOC (II).
According to Wu, the exhibition displays the classic works of
art collected by NAMOC and vividly embodies the innovation and
development of China's excellent
traditional culture, the promotion and inheritance of red
revolutionary culture, and the exchange and mutual learning of
outstanding Chinese and foreign art achievements.
More than 100 masterpieces by Chinese masters including
Su Shi, Tang Yin, Qi Baishi, Xu
Beihong, Lin Fengmian, Liu Haisu, and Pan Tianshou, as well as
foreign masters such as Picasso, Kollwitz and Ansel Adams from NAMOC's collection are on
display.
As an important hub for international art exchanges, NAMOC has
always attached great importance to the collection, research, and
display of international artworks since its establishment.
"Our museum has hosted various exhibitions for overseas artists
from countries like Italy and
France, especially those from
Academy of Fine Arts at the Institute of France," Wu told the Global Times in an
earlier interview.
"They were very touched by the exhibition and donated their
masterpieces to us. Before coming to China, they, mostly in their 80s and 90s, knew
very little about China. But after
the exhibition, they admired China
and were moved by the respect and exchanges."
For Fan Di'an, chairman of the
China Artists Association and head of NAMOC from 2005 to 2014, the
museum has housed works from generations of Chinese artists,
shouldered the task of public art education as well as offered a
stage for international artists to "talk and learn from each other,
all of which demonstrate our cultural confidence."
"The reply letter from President Xi was not just for veteran
experts and artists at NAMOC, but for the whole art circle. We must
further implement his call and make new achievements in Chinese
fine art," Fan told the Global Times on Tuesday.
More celebrations
A stamp was also issued on Tuesday as part of the museum's 60th
anniversary celebrations.
The stamp features the five Chinese characters that make up
NAMOC's Chinese name written in calligraphic script originally from
the brush of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong. It also shows the
museum's main building, with a design that incorporates elements of
traditional Chinese architecture - a storied pavilion and a roof of
yellow glazed tiles.
Through these celebrations, the museum hopes to showcase that
"China's long culture and red
revolutionary culture have merged into a journey of the new era and
a stream rushing to the ocean that is human civilization," said
Wu.
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SOURCE Global Times