ChinaDaily[971217-8]

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China Daily

97 / 12 / 17 /

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1. Frank Stella works to be exhibited
2. Changshu museums abounding in heritage
3. Art institute hails 40th birthday
4. Born-addicted infant rescued
5. What's on (Page 10, Date: 12/17/97)
6. [INLINE]
7. [INLINE] __
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Frank Stella works to be exhibited
FRANK Stella, an outstanding modern American artist, is planning
to have his paintings and installations exhibited in Beijing in
1999.
"Such an exhibition could help with the building of a bridge of
artistic friendship between China and the United States," he said
in Beijing last month when he came to explore the possibilities of
staging his one-man show here.
Stella, 61, is regarded as one of the most important living
American artists to have succeeded the Abstract Expressionists. In
his early years, he established himself as a painter of powerful
"minimalist" canvases, using simple geometrical patterns as
images.
But in the early 1970s, he began what might be called the
"maximalist," or inclusive phase of his art. In this phase, the
structures, though they remain much the same, are hidden, and the
images look more colourful -- involved and rich in shapes.
He has produced several series of paintings, each exploring a
particular theme. The best known of these is a series of bands of
bright colour that create illusions of depth similar to those
produced by the bellows of a camera, striped and shaped canvases
and so on.
The 20th century non-figurative (abstract) painting has
traditionally presented itself as the highest of the plastic arts
-- the most spiritual, most philosophical, most absolute, purest,
according to American art critic William Rubin.
"Kandinsky, Mondrian and Rothko related this noumenal loftiness in
part to the elimination from the picture of references to the
things of this world," Rubin said. "Frank Stella has shown that
total abstraction need not be thus. He has aimed lower, but wider.
While Mondrian proved that great non-figurative painting was not
doomed to short-windedness, Stella has shown that it could also
have the range and variety of the most inventive figurative art."
Frank Stella is by no means a stranger to Chinese artists and art
critics, at least those engaged in modernist painting and theory.
"We have long known him because his name time and again appears in
various modern-art history books," says Fan Dian, an accomplished
Chinese art critic and also assistant president of the Central
Academy of Fine Arts. "His works 'Quathlamba,' Jesper's Dilemma'
and others, for example, are classics in modern painting."
Fan thinks that Stella and other American painters of his
generation have created an art most typical of American culture.
This kind of art is open and full of visual vitality.
It is not only the outcome of the artists' imagination but also a
reflection of the reality of the American society since the 1960s.
"It is the symbol of American practical and enterprising spirit,"
Fan says.
Stella has retained a very clearly defined personality of his own.
His language has become all the richer and the structures of his
work all the more varying. With various kinds of media, materials
and ways, he has created a world full of movement and sunshine.
His painting has broken through the boundary of conventional
painting, conveying a strong sense of space and sending visual
shocks down the viewer, Fan said.
"The future exhibition of his works will enable Chinese artists to
know directly the trajectory of the development of his art and the
relationship between him and American art and culture as a whole,"
Fan said.
Stella, as an abstract artist, notices several surprising
connections between traditional Chinese art and 20th century
European and American art.
"I noted how Chinese calligraphy and the great landscape painting
gain a level of pictorial abstraction that ties them to the modern
abstract painting that has come to define 20th century art," he
said.
He went on to elaborate on his statement that the emphasis on
Chinese calligraphy (in caoshu style perhaps, which is marked by
wildly running strokes) is very close to the kind of thing that
one might get in Kandinsky and Mondrian.
Stella said: "The outside world is not important. What is
important is the direct expression of the inner self, which is the
goal of abstract art."
To say something directly and quickly, both abstract art and
traditional Chinese art need to be abbreviated, although both are
good at making direct statements, he said.
"This is their share emphasis," Stella said. "Indirectly, they
both do the same thing. In order to be great, calligraphy has to
imply the sense of movement, life and three-dimensionality. In
other words, the great piece of calligraphy is seen as rounded and
full.
"And that is the same thing that is true about abstract art. It
doesn't describe anything literally, but it has to appear
animated. When you make things flat or when you make a shape, it
has to seem rounded at the same time.
"It can be static, and it has to be static because the painting
doesn't move. But it has to appear to have movement.
"So this goal of being both vital, which means to be
three-dimensional, and fluid, which means to have a sense of
movement -- two impossible goals -- is shared by abstraction and
by Chinese art."
Frank Stella, born in Malden, Massachusetts, began painting as an
undergraduate at Princeton University, where he completed a
bachelor of arts degree in 1958. His earliest works reveal the
influence of the geometric, gridlike art of Piet Mondrian, as well
as the loose, thick style of Abstract Expressionism.
In the late 1970s, Stella began to evolve a style that combines a
return to Expressionism with three-dimensional elaborations of the
painted surface.
His first one-man show was staged in 1959 in the Malden Public
Library. It marked the beginning of a series of shows covering
several decades.
The shows include his one-man shows in the Washington Gallery of
Modern Art in Washington, DC in 1968, in the Museum of Modern Art
of New York in 1970, in the Hayward Gallery of London in 1970, in
the Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art in Japan in 1982, in the
Palazzo della Esposizioni of Rome in 1993 and Walker Art Centre in
Minneapolis this year.
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 12/17/97_
_Author: Hua Jia_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Changshu museums abounding in heritage
A "CULTURAL belt," which centres on a number of museums, is taking
shape in Changshu, a city in Jiangsu Province noted for its long
history and rich cultural heritage.
The recorded history of the city goes back 1,700 years. Since the
Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, Changshu has been
an important city in southern China. By the Ming (1368-1644) and
Qing dynasties (1644-1911), it had already become a regional
economic and cultural centre.
The place abounds in relics. There are, for example, 99 relic
sites or historical places that are under provincial and municipal
protection.
It is on this historical base and with the help of sustainable
economic development today that the museum-centred cultural
undertaking in Changshu has made great headway.
The City Museum, for example, is situated at the foot of scenic
Mount Yushan. There are more than 10,000 relics of various
historical periods of the country. The oldest are those of the
Songze Culture in primitive times. The latest are those in the
late 19th century and the early 20th century when the revolution
that eventually overthrew the Qing monarchy was brewing and
raging.
The masterpieces by such Ming and Qing masters as Wen Zhenming and
Dong Qichang constitute the main body of the relics collection of
the museum.
Around the City Museum, eight special-theme museums have been set
up. They include the Tablets Museum; the Pang Xunqing Art Museum
after the name of the late contemporary master; the Mount Yushan
Art Museum; and the Memorial Museum of Wong Tonghe, who was a
court official in the late Qing Dynasty and also a pioneer
enlightenment at the time.
The Tablets Museum, constructed in the style of typical southern
China gardens, reflects with its tablets the politics, economics,
geography, water conservation, folk customs, culture and the arts
since the Song Dynasty.
It is believed that the project will help promote the development
of culture and arts in the region. (CD news)
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_Date: 12/17/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Art institute hails 40th birthday
THE Jiangsu Provincial Painting Institute is going to celebrate
the 40th anniversary of its founding with an extensive exhibition
that is scheduled to open next Tuesday in the China National Art
Museum, Beijing.
Jiangsu Province, which has been a developed province in terms of
economy and culture, produced the majority of the most outstanding
painters in ancient times, including Gu Kaizhi, Zhang Sengyiu,
Dong Yuan and Zheng Banqiao. All of them have stamped deep marks
on Chinese art history.
No doubt this kind of art tradition has had great influence on the
local people and has helped to inspire many outstanding local
painters. Since the founding of the art institute 40 years ago, a
number of artists who have distinguished themselves with paintings
of unique styles have emerged. Among them are Ya Ming, Song
Wenzhi, Wei Zixi, Song Yuling and so on. Besides, there some
famous calligraphers such as Fei Xiwo and Lin Sanzhi.
Their large-format or super-format paintings decorate many
important places in China, especially Beijing. One can see huge
pieces by the painters from the Jiangsu Provincial Painting
Institute in such places as the Great Hall of the People, the
Diaoyutai State Guest House and Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall.
The Jinling (old name of Nanjing, the provincial capital) Painting
School has taken shape, with the painters from the Jiangsu
Provincial Painting Institute as the centre.
The painters, while inheriting the cultural tradition, are
committed to blazing new trails in the belief that art must keep
up with the times.
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_Date: 12/17/97_
_Author: Peng Liming_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Born-addicted infant rescued
AT a private clinic on Beihu Road in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region, a child enters the world.
"A girl!" declares the doctor, patting the infant gently.
However, the baby makes no response. Her face is livid, with a
dull expression.
"A dead infant?" the doctor wonders, when, suddenly, the baby
opens her mouth as if to cry but makes no sound.
Then all her body begins to twitch.
Calling on his clinical experience, the doctor decides immediately
to administer oxygen therapy. After more than 10 minutes' work,
the infant awakes.
The doctor asks the mother, Aying, about the child's condition.
Knowing she cannot conceal the fact, Aying tells the truth: "I
took drugs."
"What? How could you do that?" the doctor says. "Your child is
already addicted! Look at her! Twitch, vomit, a born addict. What
is her future going to be?"
Aying, who declined to give her full name, recalls these first
moments of her child's life.
Aying said she was once a strong-minded woman. In the business
world, she had a series of successes, which brought her much
wealth.
One day in 1992, a violent stomach-ache made her vomit blood. When
she could not endure the pain, a friend offered her a "cigarette"
to ease it. She took it, not realizing the cigarette contained
heroin. She could not know the eventual result that this simple
action would have on her baby and her life.
As time went by, she became more and more addicted. Every day she
had to go to the street to look for drugs. She no longer smoked
but took heroin by injection. The hundreds of thousands of yuan
that she had earned in business all went to satisfying her
addiction. Her two-storey building was also soon gone.
At the beginning of 1996, Aying became pregnant. She was both
nervous and scared. The father of the child was also an addict,
who had already been sent to the Guangxi drug rehabilitation
centre, as the law requires, Aying said.
She dared not see a doctor, because she, too, might be sent to the
centre. Fearful of her future, she thought of committing suicide.
However, after taking some sleeping pills, she did not die.
When Aying took her baby home, she soon discovered that the baby
became peaceful only after Aying took drug injections and
breastfed her.
When the local police arrested Aying as she tried to buy drugs on
the street and discovered that she had a drug-dependent baby, they
immediately informed the Nanning Social Welfare Institute.
The institute immediately sent its doctors to Aying's home to
check on the child's health. After the check-up, the doctors
confirmed that the child was already addicted to drugs.
Lu Fuchao, director of the Drug Rehabilitation Centre of the
Nanning Social Welfare Institute, said women who take drugs seldom
get pregnant. If an addicted woman does become pregnant, the drugs
she is taking enter the child's body through the placenta.
After the child's birth, drugs can also get into the child's
system through breastfeeding, making the child rely on drugs
physiologically.
Most addicted children become mentally deficient. And since their
immune systems are weakened, they are more likely to become
infected with diseases.
The doctors and the institute management didn't want to see the
baby suffer. "We must not let drugs ruin the child's life," said
Yang Shufang, president of the Nanning Social Welfare Institute.
The institute decided to give the child free medical treatment.
It took the child in and named her Enen.
The doctors held group consultations to discuss a treatment plan.
After some research, the doctors agreed on a plan for treating the
mother and child simultaneously: Aying would take the anti-drug
medicine and then breastfeed Enen.
Every day the doctors kept a close eye on Enen, looking for
changes in her symptoms. At first, the child kept crying, sucking
her fingers madly, sweating and yawning.
As time passed, the symptoms gradually weakened. On the 11th day,
the results of a test for morphine content in Enen were negative.
When Enen left the institute, without hesitation Doctor Lu wrote
out this advice: Wean the child from breastfeeding resolutely.
"Little Enen's addiction was caused by her mother's feeding," Lu
said. "She has no psychological dependence, only physiological
dependence. That is to say, unlike an adult, she does not have the
memory and aftertaste of the physical condition that comes after
taking drugs. She certainly can get rid of the addiction."
Meanwhile, Aying is kept at a local drug rehabilitation centre.
Enen is being taken care of by her maternal grandmother.
Since Enen left the institute on May 26, the institute has checked
on Enen's physical condition three times and tested her urine.
"It will take a period of time to show the effect of Enen's
rehabilitation," Lu said.
The result of the last test came out on October 27: negative, the
same as the previous two.
"After five months," Lu said, "finally we can say that little Enen
is a successful case of an addicted child being cured."
_____________________________________________________________

_Date: 12/17/97_
_Author: Wen Hui_
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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What's on (Page 10, Date: 12/17/97)
ACROBATICS
Acrobatics -- The China Acrobatic Troupe is juggling, cycling and
tumbling every night at Chaoyang Theatre.
The 46-year-old troupe, one of the best in the country, has toured
more than 60 countries and won international competition awards.
The company's repertoire includes tightrope walking, martial arts
and traditional Chinese magic tricks.
Time: 7:15 pm, daily.
Place: Chaoyang Theatre, 36 Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6507-2421
EXHIBITIONS
Green Camp Photo Show -- A photo exhibition is going on at the
Jiayan Hall of the Beijing Library.
More than 70 pictures on display taken by members of a Green Camp
in southeastern Tibet, provide a glimpse into the rich natural and
cultural resources of the Nyingchi area in Tibet.
They also reflect the deep thoughts of 22 students from 12 Chinese
leading universities on the environmental issue they have long
pondered.
The Green Camp is a non-governmental group aiming at protecting
the environment through bringing college students and other young
people to the hot spots of environmental problems.
Time: 10 am-5 pm, through Friday.
Place: Jiayan Hall of the Beijing Library.
Tel: 6220-8198.
To get there: take Bus No 320 or No 332.
Joint art show -- A joint exhibition of selected modern Chinese
paintings is running at the Wanfung Art Gallery.
On display are more than 40 pieces of Chinese paintings by 30
young and middle-aged artists who have adopted new approaches to
traditional Chinese painting.
Time: 9 am-6 pm, until December 25.
Place: Wanfung Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng
District, Beijing.
Tel: 6512-7338.
Caricature show -- The Second Asian Caricature Tour Exhibition
comes to Beijing from today.
On display are 90 works by 11 artists from nine Asian countries.
From different angles, the artists mean to raise the public
awareness of disturbing issues including world population growth.
The event is organized by the China International Exhibition
Exchange Agency.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, today through Sunday.
Place: 111 Jiaodaokou Dongdajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: 6403-1631, 6401-5552
Abstract art -- More than 200 abstract oil paintings are on show
at the J. B. Studio on the east side of the embassy area.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, daily
Place: J. B. Studio, Guanghua Xili, Jianwai Dajie, Chaoyang
District
Tel: 6594-0161
Contemporary art -- Red Gate Gallery will host an exhibition of
original works by some contemporary Chinese artists of the past 10
years.
On show are works by artists including Su Xinping, Zeng Fanzhi,
Guo Jin, Liu Qinghe, Zhang Yajie, Wang Lifeng, Ai An, Zhou Jing,
Zheng Xuewu and Aniwar, that have been selected for the 1998
calendar and past calendars.
Time: 11 am-6 pm, until December 31
Place: Level 3, China World Hotel, 1 Jianwai Dajie, Chaoyang
District
Tel: 6505-2266 ext 6821/5729
Calligraphy art -- Lin Xincheng's decorative art exhibition is
being held at the Beijing Yuxiuyuan Garden.
Lin, 45, is a member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association and
deputy secretary-general of the China Modern Painting and
Calligraphy Society. With profound philosophical ideas, his modern
calligraphy pieces have aroused the growing interest of both
professional and amateur calligraphers. Lin is also a poet and art
designer.
The exhibition displays Lin's representative designs for villas,
wine bars, private dwelling places, sitting rooms, parlours,
studies, bedrooms, bathrooms and attics.
Time: 9 am-5 pm, until December 30
Place: Yuxiuyuan Garden, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6946-2677
Medici collection show -- The Italian Medici Collection Show is
running at the Working People's Cultural Palace, ushering in the
'98 China Year of International Fine Arts.
The year-long project will feature original artwork by Chinese
masters and also up-and-coming modern Chinese artists. It will
include Western art from the Renaissance to the present, from the
ancient Indian art of Latin America to the sculptures of 10
African countries.
The Medicis were the famous Italian family that ruled Florence
during the Renaissance (1300-1600) and patronized Michelangelo,
the most gifted sculptor of the Renaissance or perhaps any era.
Through the efforts of the family, especially Lorenzo de Medici,
Florence and their home boasted a rich collection of the
Renaissance artwork.
Time: 8 am-5 pm, until January 10, 1998.
Place: Beijing Working People's Cultural Palace, east of
Tian'anmen Rostrum
Tel: 6403-1631
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_Date: 12/17/97_
_Author: _
_Copyright© by China Daily_

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Updated on September 24, 1997

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_[1]The 15th Party Congress_

_[2]Sep. 12 - Sep.18, 1997_

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[3][LINK] _[4]General Secretary Jiang Zemin's
Report to the 15th Party Congress_
[5][LINK] _[6]New Party Leadership elected,
Top Leaders' Profiles_
[7][LINK] _[8]Communique of 15th CPC Central
Committee's First Plenum_

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Feedback: [9]cd...@chinadaily.net

_Copyright by CBnet ®, China Daily Information_

References

1. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtg124.html
2. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtg124.html
3. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/report.html
4. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/report.html
5. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb46.html
6. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb46.html
7. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb09.html
8. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/15/engtgb09.html
9. mailto:cd...@chinadaily.net

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[3][LINK]

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_Chinese, U.S. Presidents Hold Press Conference _

WASHINGTON, October 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Jiang
Zemin and U.S. President Bill Clinton have agreed that China
and the United States should strengthen cooperation in
building a strategic partnership oriented toward the 21st
century, with a view to promoting world peace and
development.
This was stated by Jiang during a joint press conference by
the two presidents Wednesday.
The two presidents also shared the view of holding regular
visits between the two countries' heads of state,
facilitating a Washington-Beijing presidential communications
link, triggering the mechanism of a regular exchange of
visits by foreign ministers and other cabinet officials, as
well as strengthening cooperation in economic, scientific and
technological, cultural, educational fields and in law
enforcement.
Jiang described his talks with Clinton as "constructive and
fruitful," and believed that his ongoing visit could attain
the goal of enhancing mutual understanding, broadening common
ground, developing cooperation and building the future.
The two presidents also agreed to handle bilateral relations
and differences in line with the principles of mutual
respect, non-interference in each other's internal affairs,
equality and mutual benefit, and seeking common ground while
putting aside differences.
Clinton said that Jiang's visit to the United States gave
them the opportunity and the responsibility to build a future
that is more secure, more peaceful, more prosperous for both
peoples.
The two countries share a profound interest in a stable,
prosperous and open Asia, and a strong interest in stopping
the spread of weapons of mass destruction and other
sophisticated weaponry, Clinton said.
He said he agreed to move ahead with the U.S.-China agreement
for cooperation concerning the peaceful use of nuclear
energy.
In both China and the United States, trade has been a
critical catalyst for growth, and China is the fastest
growing market in the world for America's goods and services,
Clinton said. He also said the United States would "do
everything possible to bring China into the World Trade
Organization."
Referring to the Taiwan issue, Jiang said that China wishes
to effect the peaceful reunification of the motherland by
means of implementing Deng Xiaoping's concept of "one
country, two systems."
But China is not committed to giving up the use of force in
this regard, he said, adding that this does not target the
Taiwan compatriots, but direct against the foreign force
interfering in Taiwan affairs and against the scheme that
would attempt to separate Taiwan from China.
On the human rights issue, Jiang said the current world is a
rich and diverse one, and concepts on democracy and human
rights and on freedoms are relative and specific ones.
Therefore, they should be determined by the specific national
situation of different countries.

References

1. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/report.htm
2. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/d1-jiang_j15.htm
3. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/comment.htm
4. http://www.chinadaily.net/cndy/history/visit/backgrnd.htm

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