Young artists show Chinese culture in Britain

About 45 Chinese young artists gathered in Nottingham, Britain on Friday, showing people Chinese culture in their different ways.

According to Zheng Xuewu, head of the Chinese artist delegation, these artists to the first World Event Young Artists festival are between 16 and 30, whose works include sculpture, painting, installation, design, etc.

Tian Xiaolei, a 28-year-old teacher from an art school, brought six oil paintings featuring Chinese tea ceremony. "I like Chinese tea," she said. "I want to promote Chinese tea culture with these paintings."

Jin Yan, a 23-year-old girl majored in media, painted a Chinese chess board against the backdrop of calligraphy. The characters were from Sun Tzu's Art of War. "The book underlined Chinese philosophy," she explained.

Many of the artists managed to create a way of promoting the ancient culture in modern ways, like 26-year-old Wu Haoruo.

The man from Beijing used ropes and PVC pipes to produce a set of Chinese-styled furniture. "The furniture from Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) features simple but graceful lines," he said. "I was trying to show it with modern industrial materials."

Three sculptures from 23-year-old Jin Dazhao were figures from China's classic Legends of Mountains and Seas, which was compiled about 4,000 years ago, and known as the country's first geographic and mythological book.

"There was a period when Chinese contemporary artists imitated the western masters. But we need our own features any way," he said.

The youngest artist was a middle school student Li Yuqian. The girl, 16, designed four dresses. In one of them, she combined Chinese eave with the fashionable see-through look. "I want to go to the St. Martin's College in the UK," she said.

The first World Event Young Artists festival, from September 7 to 16, attracted about 1,000 artists from 100 nations.

Zheng Xuewu, also artist director from the Beijing Studio Center, hoped that the festival can give these young talents a platform. "They are among the most outstanding youngsters in China," he said proudly. "We want the world to know what Chinese young people were like."