Fanciful, factual pandas part of art exhibit held in Berlin

Artworks inspired by China's giant pandas are being presented at Berlin's Logenhaus exhibition center just as the Berlin Zoo has welcomed a pair of pandas.

The exhibition, Panda and the World, showcases 23 works, including paintings, installations, sculptures, photographs and paper-cuttings.

Some depict the animals playing in the wild, eating bamboo or in gatherings with other pandas, while other works have a more creative take, such as paintings showing pandas climbing roses against a deep blue sky or a panda surfing a large wave.

"This exhibition allows people to understand pandas, and develop awareness about how to better protect them. Pandas are ambassadors for Chinese-German friendship," said Huang Kunming, executive vice-minister of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

"This exhibition will also open a window for the German public to know China and understand China, and help to build a new bridge for Chinese-German friendship. We hope that the German public's love for pandas will bring a fresh impetus to take the friendship to an even higher level," Huang said.

The exhibition, which runs to Tuesday, is hosted by China's State Council Information Office and the Chinese embassy in Germany. It opened on Wednesday, the same day President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel jointly opened the Berlin Zoo's Panda Garden.

China sent the pandas, Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, to Germany ahead of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on Friday and Saturday.

Zhao Qinghua, science and technology counselor of China's embassy in Germany, said Meng Meng and Jiao Qing are friendly ambassadors from China to Germany, and their arrival is a milestone in the 15 years of Chinese-German collaboration in panda research.

"This important event enhances cultural understanding between China and Germany and allows the people of both countries to develop a more comprehensive understanding of each other, which is helpful in further advancing collaboration in culture, politics and economic fields," Zhao said.

The exhibition featured works by artists from China, Germany, France and Russia. Beijing-based German artist Arnd Christian Mueller has created an acrylic installation of pandas, using black and white to create interweaving bubbles and arcs. Cutouts from some of the acrylic boards are used to create other boards, emphasizing the idea of recycling.

"Pandas are great ambassadors of Chinese culture to Germany, and we are thrilled to have pandas in Berlin. I hope seeing pandas will help our local residents become more aware of environmental protection and sustainability," Mueller said.

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Paintings of pandas climbing up roses attract a woman's attention at the Panda and the World exhibition at Berlin's Logenhaus center on Tuesday. The exhibition, with 23 works, coincides with the opening of Berlin Zoo's Panda Garden this week.Yuan Shuai / Xinhua

(China Daily 07/07/2017 page3)