A woman looks at a painting on the exhibition "Meditation of Dao" in the center of Athens, Greece, on April 10, 2019. Five Chinese contemporary artists co-worked to introduce the Chinese philosophy "Dao" to Greek audience in an art exhibition in the center of Athens on Wednesday evening. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
ATHENS, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Five Chinese contemporary artists co-worked to introduce the Chinese philosophy "Dao" to Greek audience in an art exhibition in the center of Athens on Wednesday evening.
Entitled "Meditation of Dao," the exhibition is the brainchild of Ioanna Lin, who has been living and working in Greece for nine years. She invited Guan Hong Chen, Li Xiang, Wang Jieshan and Zhang Peng to co-exhibit some samples of their works in Greece for the first time, and help strengthening the cultural understanding between the two countries as well as West and East.
The artists received a warm welcome by Greek art lovers who flocked to Art Gallery Ziller to seek the meaning of The Dao.
"The Dao is the ultimate existence, the origin of everything in heaven and earth. The landscapes, architecture, ancient relics and figures depicted by the artists reflect their understanding of nature regarding the laws of the universe... The scenery in Chinese paintings is no longer a realistic landscape, but the image of the artist's thoughts and feelings," Lin explained to visitors.
"The Dao is a situation between yes and no. Each person can find his or her own answer based on what he or she feels and understands from the art work which depicts a familiar and yet strange image, making people wondering. There is not one answer," Zhang Peng said.
Both Zhang and Guan who attended the opening event on Wednesday expressed their respect for Greece's ancient civilization and contemporary art.
They have cultivated ties with Greek artists and planned more exhibitions in China to introduce Greek contemporary art to Chinese audience under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
"Cultural exchanges will bring people closer," Zhang said.
Guan plans to visit every country participating in the BRI with a traveling exhibition in the next 20 years, to promote deeper cooperation among peoples via art, he said.
Greek artist Dean Copa said that art has no boundaries and the dialogue between artists coming from different backgrounds, traditions and experiences can bring much to the world.
After strolling through the art gallery, Copa gave his own answer to the meaning of The Dao.
"It is an invisible essence connecting everything, a call to spirituality and the journey each one of us has to take in life," he said.
Errin Gie, an artist from Indonesia also believed that artists can act as conduits bridging the East with the West. She plans to organize a similar exhibition bringing Indonesian artists to Greece in autumn following in Lin's footsteps.
"Everybody is looking at China. Besides the economic strength, China has diplomacy of art," she said.
The exhibition will run until April 24.
