Czech-China art exchanges go to more public forums

Czech Ambassador to China Libor Secka has boosted his country's Embassy Art program to a new level in its third year. Most events in recent months have been private showings at the embassy, but a recital at the Beijing Concert Hall by Ostrava-born pianist Pavel Kaspar last weekend launched a series of cultural-exchange events for the public.

The National Art Museum of China will open an exhibition by Czech poet and painter Bohuslav Reynek on April 30, and a show of "acoustic drawings" by Milan Grygar opens May 27 at the Today Art Museum in Beijing.

At the embassy last weekend, the ambassador and his wife, Sabrina, hosted a joint exhibition by Beijing-based Czech artist Jiri Straka and his wife, A Qin. The couple will open the Czech-China Contemporary, dedicated to research and promotion of contemporary art in both countries, on May 28 in the Songzhuang art village in suburban Beijing.

Skoda China president Gerrit Marx presented the ambassador with a brand-new black Superb 2.0 TSI Elegance for the embassy's use. The carmaker is a traditional Czech brand that is now part of Volkswagen, and Skoda is a major sponsor of the three-year Embassy Art program.

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How and when will the euro crisis be solved? Why is it important to China? Maarten Verwey, deputy director general at the EU Commission's department for economic and financial affairs, addressed such questions at the Northwest University in Xi'an earlier this month. In the midst of the sovereign debt crisis, the EU delegation to China is taking the story of the euro on tour across China to discuss how Europe is putting its house in order. Next stops: Nanjing and Wuhan in May, where students can visit the exhibition and quiz experts from the EU.

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The UK's Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong met at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London last week to begin a new cultural "dialogue" between the two countries that will focus on the creative industries, science and education".

V&A director Martin Roth said his museum will work "with both the National Museum of China and the British Museum this year to present an exhibition of ceramic masterpieces as part of the UK Now 2012 Festival in China".

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The Spanish embassy in Beijing is collaborating with the Cervantes Institute in the capital to bring the exhibition Capturing ARCO Madrid: 25 Years of Photography in Spain. The collection opens April 23 and runs through June 30.

The show includes 61 works by renowned artists featured in Spain's most important contemporary art fair, including Cristina Garcia Rodero, Alberto Garcia Alix, Joan Fontcuberta and Ouka Leele.

It also includes works by well-known Chinese photographer Fa Man.

The exhibition is part of the ongoing art and photography festival Caochangdi Photospring.