Chinese artist Kong Ning poses for photos during her performance in Athens, Greece, on Dec. 17, 2017. Chinese artist Kong Ning performed at the foot of the Acropolis in the center of Athens on Sunday in a bid to raise public awareness on environmental protection. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
Chinese artist Kong Ning performed at the foot of the Acropolis in the center of Athens on Sunday in a bid to raise public awareness on environmental protection.
Dressed in a long-tailed dress made of blue biodegradable plastic, the Chinese artist, holding a "Little Blue Man" figure in her hands, together with environmental activists, urged Athenians and tourists strolling along the pedestrian street under the Sacred Rock to take a moment and consider what each one of us can do to protect planet earth.
Kong, who visits Greece for the first time, explained to Xinhua and people who approached her, that her "Little Blue Man" symbolizes that we should live like a drop of water, coming and going without leaving any trace behind.
"I felt that people understood me, and knew that I love the planet just as I love the blue sky above Greece. From their eyes I know that they understand me and love me," she told Xinhua.
"All the people of the world live on one planet and we all love this planet like members of a big family," she said.
The 59-year-old self-taught poet, painter and film-maker and performance artist has been devoted to art projects on environmental protection over the past decade.
She has performed across China, as well as at Times Square and the 9/11 Memorial in New York in November and Paris earlier this month.
The artist chose Athens to stage the performance of her "Little Blue Man" as it is a place drenched in blue sea water and sky, she told Xinhua.
She intends to take the "Little Blue Man" across the globe to showcase the need to protect the environment and promote a new, green way of living. She said she is also ready to join hands with anyone sharing her dream of a "green future".
Greek multidisciplinary artist and passionate environmental activist Demosthenes Davvetas on Sunday welcomed the Chinese artist under the Acropolis and discussed plans for their collaboration in 2018.
"I would like to welcome the performance Kong Ning is giving here. I believe that it is very important for the ongoing discourse of the environment. Today, more than ever, the environment is a subject that concerns us all," Davvetas told Xinhua.
"This time the dialogue between us is not limited to the past, our histories, but concerns also the present," he said regarding the projects he works on with Kong, which includes translation of his poems into Chinese and the Chinese artist's into Greek.
Davvetas has visited China three times so far and presented to Chinese audience his work on the dialogue between Socrates and Confucius.
