A good visual image of the coming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is built only on a broad base of social support and open atmosphere, said Central Academy of Fine Arts President Pan Gongkai.

A creative Chinese ink painter, the 56-year-old was a professor with the China Academy of Art in East China's Zhejiang Province and a visiting professor to the University of California at Berkeley in the United States before he was appointed to his current position.

"The birth of a good Olympic image needs common support from society and a more free, active and open atmosphere for artistic creation," he said and cited architecture as an example.

"Beijing is becoming more international and magnanimous with the involvement of international architects in such landmark buildings as the Olympic Garden, the Main Stadium of the Olympic Games, new office buildings for China Central Television, and the third phase of the World Trade Centre and the National Opera House," he said.

However, he stressed that "it is important to cheer on local Chinese designers, and to create a more open social atmosphere in which good works by native Chinese artists are understood and put into use."

He said that the faculty of his school are working on the design of the visual image of the 2008 Olympic Games, including the extension of the Olympic emblem "Chinese seal."

"We Chinese should follow that example," he said.

Close