Please find the Chinese original attached.

 

Courtesy translation:

"Emotion Conveyed from Sound, Colour, Light, and Shadow"

If you step into the green-trees-sheltered Czech Embassy in Beijing this summer, you might hear some melodious piano tunes, or might see some traditional Chinese ink paintings, or might be struck by some abstract but novel contemporary paintings, yet you will definitely encounter with art lovers from Czech and China, sharing with each other their feelings and comprehensions of art, culture and life.  The language would no longer be a barrier if you were in the atmosphere of art; either a note or a colour could open a window for people to communicate freely and sincerely, said Mr. Libor Secka, Ambassador of Czech in China.

Such opportunity to encounter with art is granted by the ‘embassyart艺馆’ program held by the Czech Embassy in Beijing, and as well by Secka’s good wish to promote the cultural communication and to contribute to the mutual understandings between Czech and Chinese people. The encounter of Secka and Chinese art is just like a romantic story, or in his own words, ‘full of magic’. ‘That was in October 2007, my first time to Beijing, I visited 798 Art Zone. It was nearly dusk, my friend and I walked into an artist’s studio, unexpectedly. We saw his art works and watched him painting. With the sun falling, the afterglow spreading out, and the leaves slowly swirling down, the artwork in front of me integrated with every thing surrounded. The scenario was so lively, penetrating straight into my soul.’ said Secka.

In the following four years, Secka has visited many artists’ studios, chatting and drinking tea with them, in order to search the soul-touching feeling. Now, he has made many Chinese friends from culture and art field. The ‘embassyart艺馆’ program has successfully held 16 cultural and art events, among which there are 11 Chinese artists.

Since he came to China, Secka not only has the opportunity to enjoy the original and authentic Chinese art and culture, moreover, he has gained genuine understanding of China and Chinese culture from the immersive experience in his daily life. In the beginning, he was very fond of Chinese contemporary art. Now, he has cultivated his own taste for traditional Chinese culture, often contemplating and explicating some traditional Chinese thoughts from an 'outsider's' view.  He has also attempted to embed more traditional Chinese elements into ' embassyart艺馆' to display the charm of classical art.

'Just like this landscaping painting', Secka pointed at a Chinese ink painting on the wall and said, ' you can always find these two elements of mountain and water in Chinese artworks, even in the contemporary artworks, which are originated from traditional Confucius thoughts- The kind loves mountain and the wise loves water. The wise loves moving around like water and the kind prefer to be quiet like mountain. The wise is happy and the kind lives long.  The stillness of mountain and the vitality of water create the balance. Chinese people pursuit such status of balance down the ages, wishing they could be integrated into nature. This idea has deep impact on the thought of Chinese people, while in the western culture there is no obsession with such status of balance. However, in the present context, this idea of balance is of great value and is worth learning.'

Despite of the strong willingness, Czech people are not very familiar with Chinese culture due to the language, which, however, creates a huge space for our work. This is also a good opportunity for Chinese culture and artworks, with many things to be done. In his opinion, the blank is not an excuse to be pessimistic but is a good reason to create something big, which might probably be the original intention that he has been promoting the ' embassyart艺馆' project. For two years, this project serves as a platform and a bond, exhibiting the artworks of artists from Czech and China, and gathering people together. Secka said, people will easily get to know each other so long as they start the dialogue and discussion. 'I always feel Czech people and Chinese people are very close, even their expressions of humour are quite similar.'

Indeed, if you browse through the brochures of the ‘embassyart艺馆’ exhibitions, you may find those paintings by the Chinese artists mainly draw on the techniques of western modern art, or describe the Chinese folk tales, for example classic plots from The Romance of West Chamber and The Legend of White Snake, or abstractly express the inner world of the Chinese youths nowadays. The gap between China and the rest of the world is filled in these paintings, as if art is really cosmopolitan, regardless of painter or audience, of nationality, beyond the barrier of language. By sound, colour, light and shadow, the minds communicate spiritually. And then, you could ‘hear the thunder in the silence’, and feel the soul-touching strike and happiness. Secka often says, with the rising economy and international standing, China is now an important power in the world, affecting the life of people from many countries. In the Czech shops, almost half of the commodities are from China. Czech people’s daily life is influenced by Chinese elements. People are longing to know this great country in the east. Chinese culture and art should go beyond the boarder and show to the world what they are as well as their destination and good vision.

China is the most dynamic country in the world, and Chinese culture is among the most charming cultures around the world. In terms of culture and art, China can dialogue and communicate with the rest of the world. While Chinese culture presents to the world her characteristics, China should also respond to the cosmopolitan questions and challenges, with the voice of China, so as to truly become the spiritual wealth shared by people all over the world.