Recently, the 2023 "Belt and Road" South Africa-China Cultural Exchange and Chinese Painting and Calligraphy International Exhibition, co-sponsored by ZUFE, the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, the Provincial Calligraphers Association, and the Provincial Education Calligraphers Association, was held at the Cape Town International Convention Center in South Africa. Huang Jianxin, deputy secretary of ZUFE's Party Committee, led a delegation to attend the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. The opening ceremony was attended by more than a hundred people, including Solomon Lechesa Tsenoli, deputy speaker of the South African National Assembly, Umesh Bawa, director of the International Office of the University of the Western Cape, Zeng Liren, the Chinese dean of the Confucius Institute, Wu Changhai, foreign dean of the Confucius Institute, as well as representatives of artists, faculties and students, and citizens from South Africa and the overseas Chinese. This event was one of the peripheral events of the BRICS Summit to be held in South Africa in late August 2023, and was featured by CCTV.
The opening ceremony.
Solomon Lechesa Tsenoli (fourth from left), deputy speaker of the South African National Assembly visits the exhibition.
CCTV covers the event.
More than 70 works created by ZUFE's faculties and students, and artists of Zhejiang Province were exhibited. At the same time, "Beauty in China" Chinese Art Fair, featuring traditional Chinese cultural projects such as painting, ceramics, silk, tea, and traditional Chinese medicine, was also held at the University of Western Cape. It attracted over 1,000 representatives of South African artists, citizens, overseas Chinese and faculties and students of the University of Western Cape, arousing a wide-spread response in the local area.
South African citizens and overseas Chinese pay a visit to the exhibition.
The delegation also participated in a number of activities, including the Sino-Africa Cultural Exchange Seminar and PEN Conference held at the Confucius Institute at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa on August 14 and the Confucius Institute at the University of Mondrane in Mozambique on August 15. Several members of the delegation delivered academic keynote speeches and performed on-site calligraphy demonstrations. More than 160 students, faculties as well as Chinese and African experts and scholars from the University of the Western Cape and the University of Mondrane attended the cultural exchange activities. They highly praised traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy art, and showed keen interest.
Sino-Africa Cultural Exchange Seminar and PEN Conference at the University of Western Cape.
Sino-Africa Cultural Exchange Seminar and PEN Conference at the University of Mondlane in Mozambique.
This Sino-Africa Cultural Exchange and Chinese Painting and Calligraphy International Exhibition is ZUFE's proactive response to President Xi Jinping's "Belt and Road Initiative" and the globalization of the Chinese culture. It has played an active role in carrying forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture and enhancing cultural exchanges between China and Africa.
