Sculptures exchanged

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-03 10:43

Eight 5-m-high sculptures created by veteran Chinese artists such as Ye Yushan, Pan He and Han Meilin, and inscribed with words such as "Peace" and "Friendship", in five languages, will be erected at universities in Georgia, Washington, New Jersey, and Kansas, later this month.

In return, eight sculptural works created by eight famed American artists such as Philip Johnson, will be sent to China and put in universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Foshan, and Guilin, by the end of this year.

Supported by several Chinese private business firms, cultural institutions, and hundreds of overseas Chinese currently living in the United States, the friendship-themed art exchange program "is being carried out to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the US," said project initiator Zou Wen, a sculpture and art professor with Tsinghua University.

A grand opening ceremony for the sculptures was held in Washington last week and was attended by artists from both countries.