Calligraphy Spreads Friendship, Painting Celebrates Peace

On 31 October 2023, the Women Empowerment & Development Society in Asia-Africa (WEDS.AA), the Beijing Yao Yang Foundation and Hong Kong Federation of Women co-organized the 3th Asian-African Women’s Development and Cooperation Forum at the Hong Kong International Convention and Exhibition Center, during which cultural exchanges and an exhibition of paintings and calligraphy by Yuan Jiang were also held.

Under the teaching of Mr. Shou Jun, more than 20 Chinese and foreign guests, including the former President of Malawi, Ms. Banda, the wife of the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the Minister of Women’s Affairs of Cambodia, the Secretary of the Mongolian People’s Party, the Director of the Nyerere Leadership Academy of Tanzania, the Member of Parliament of Namibia, the Ambassadors of Guinea and Ghana, and the Chairperson of Hong Kong Woman’s Association, Ms. Pansy Ho, experienced the Chinese painting and participated in the creation of the “Ode to World Peace” giant scroll together. The foreign guests highly appreciated the profoundness of Chinese culture and considered the cultural exchange meaningful and the painting experience unforgettable. Cultural exchange is a bridge to build people-to-people bonds. Culture is colorful because of exchange, and civilization is enriched because of mutual learning.

Shou Jun is the inheritor of the Chinese School of Idea Painting. He is a contemporary Chinese painter, connoisseur, collector and international exchange activist.

Yuan Jiang was born in the famous historical and cultural city of Yangzhou, a scholarly family, and has been fond of painting and calligraphy since childhood. He is not only a leading figure in the “New Yangzhou Eight Monsters” school of painting, but also an advocate and practitioner of urban-style ink wash painting.