Norwegian World Art in China could date back to 2008 and was initiated by a group of 15 international artists (also known as International Crossovers) from Norway. The majority of this group of professional artists were members of the Norwegian Visual Artists Association. The member artists all worked in Norway, but had come from different countries with their own cultures backgrounds, based on which the project successfully rolled out group exhibitions, lectures and a symposium over a period of 6 months in Oslo and Akershus in south-eastern Norway in 2008. They reflected that Norway had become a multi-cultural country, with a mosaic of people from different nations living all over the country. Through the project, the group wanted to show how the immigrant artists contribute to and enrich the Norwegian cultural with their diversity of background, ways of expression, mission, form of communication and technique.
This idea is also the theme for the new and broader project the group started working on in 2010. In the new project, the group cooperates with Chinese artists and the Academy of Arts at Southwest University for Nationalities. The result of this project is the exhibition and lectures taking place 10-17 October in Chengdu. Members of the project group in Norway, Grete Marstein, Eva Xiuxia Jing and Wendelmoed van der Veen, will be giving talks in addition to presenting their work in the exhibition. From the Chinese side, a total of twenty-six artists are contributing with their work.
Through the exhibition, the group and the university hope to contribute to increased mutual understanding and cooperation between artists, teachers and students from both countries. In particular, the multi-ethnic character of both Norway and China and its impact on the arts is explored.
Click here for more information about the project, the exhibition and attending activities.
When and where:
10-17 October 2011
College Gallery of the College of Arts at Southwest University for Nationalities