Exhibition tells stories of Chinese ethnic culture

More than 2,000 miniature artworks by artists from China's 56 ethnic groups are on display at the Chinese Museum of Women and Children in Beijing.

The exhibition, which opened on Oct 22, was co-sponsored by the Chinese National Museum, the Chinese Women and Children's Museum, the National Art Committee of the Chinese Artists Association and the Benetton Academic Research Foundation of Italy. It will end on Nov 15.

The artworks, which were selected from 6,000 candidates, cover a wide range of media from Chinese painting, oil painting and calligraphy to sculpture and print. Its theme is "Harmony, Diversity and Common Destiny".

Deputy Party chief of CNM Zhang Jikang said at the opening ceremony of the exhibition CNM and CMWC aim to play their role in education and cultural exchanges and tell the story of Chinese ethnic unity and a community of shared future for mankind.

Co-curator of the exhibition Yan Zhijie read out a letter from Luciano Benetton, president of Benetton Foundation, inviting Chinese artists to participate in the Venice Biennale.

Benetton said: "The goal of 'Imago Mundi', the international art collection that I have started for over a decade involving artists from most of the world's countries, reached a milestone that is fundamental for me: to testify the artistic creativity of the 56 ethnic groups of China, a great reality that through the 'Contemporary China' collection I undertake to make known internationally, starting with Italy."

This cultural project of "Contemporary China", also known as "Colorful China", was started in 2016 and delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with the opening of the exhibition, Benetton said he had "new confidence".

He said he hoped the collection will get approval by the Council of the 60th Venice Biennale of Art in 2024.

Co-Curator Qin Dailun, also from the Chinese National Museum, said the artworks are inspiring and present the incredible culture of Chinese ethnic groups.

Wan Li, an artist from Hunan, has 10 prints of portraits of prominent Chinese and Italian figures displayed in the exhibition, including Confucius, Marco Polo and Matteo Ricci. "As a painter, we have the responsibility to contribute to cultural exchanges between China and Italy," she said.