Traditional Chinese ink wash paintings on show in Cairo

The artists showcased 30 paintings at the "Elegance of Ink" exhibition, which kicked off at Ahmed Shawki Museum in Cairo on Tuesday and has attracted nearly 100 visitors in its opening ceremony.[Photo/Xinhua]

Egypt's capital Cairo hosted a four-day art exhibition that features abstract ink wash works of six Chinese contemporary female artists, an event meant to intensify cultural ties between the two nations.

As part of the 2016 China-Egypt Culture Year jointly launched by Egypt and China to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, the exhibition is a bid to intensify their already strong cultural ties.

The artists showcased 30 paintings at the "Elegance of Ink" exhibition, which kicked off at Ahmed Shawki Museum in Cairo on Tuesday and has attracted nearly 100 visitors in its opening ceremony.

In their works, the artists used original Chinese paper that is known to be very absorbent and can keep the brightness of ink and colors for some 1,000 years.

Xu Qiping, who holds a master's degree from the Faculty of Traditional Art at Nanjing Academy of Arts, participated in the exhibition with five paintings.

"My works focus on Africa and the protection of wild animals," Xu told Xinhua. "My paintings are a mixture of traditional Chinese art and the original African surrealism."

Artist Xie Li Fang, member of the Chinese Artists Association and Chairman of the Artists Association of Hunan province, presented five paintings titled, people and animals are happy, people are in love, the woman next to Xiang River, Fish and women and the world of the girl.