Flora Fong Participates in the VIII Beijing Art Biennial 2019

September 2, 2019

Cuba participates in the eighth Beijing Art Biennial, China, 2019, with the work of painter Flora Fong, whose theme is based on "Shu", which in the Chinese language means: "Achieving the same result, as well as the different paths taken for Cultural Exchange and The Silk Road".

To create this painting, Flora also studied carefully the contents contained in the ideogram "Shu" in ancient Chinese calligraphy, and they were her source of inspiration, because they express the desire to: "achieve the same objective, taking different paths" and that explains why on the surface there appear men and women in motion, with the interest of representing a scenario; similar to a fashion show.

When it refers to disparate paths, it is because, furthermore, other means of transportation are represented, and all this network is linked, in a symbolic way, with cultural exchange between peoples.

The conceptual values conceived by the Cuban artist are aligned with the theme of the Eighth Edition of the most important Chinese Biennial, whose theme has been: "A Colorful World and a Shared Future". The event has been taking place since August 26, 2019 at the National Art Museum of Beijing and will close its doors on September 23.

The Beijing International Art Biennial already has more than four thousand participating artists, began in 2003, and is established as an exhibition of universal academic profile, which has increased the representation by countries from 45 in 2003 to 102 in 2017.

Cuba celebrates the presence of a representation of our country in this concert of artists from around the world, and this is due to the fact that in recent times the actions of exchanges between Chinese art and contemporary Cuban art have been strengthened in an increasingly growing manner.

It is enough to look at the five-year period that is about to conclude, to assess how important bilateral projects have become a reality, such as the presence of a delegation of ten Chinese artists at the XIII Havana Biennial, who came with the exhibition: "Facing the Future: 10 Contemporary Artists"; the selection and participation in Creation Scholarships called by the People's Republic of China of young Cuban painters Niels Reyes and Li Domínguez Fong, as well as the exhibition of artist Flora Fong at the Museum of the Library of the Capital of the city of Beijing, last June.

Adding to these cultural approaches, the increase in links between Chinese and Cuban institutions, such as the Hanwei International Center for Contemporary Art (Hanwei Internacional Art Center), and the International Exhibition Agency, of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, with corresponding Cuban institutions, such as the Ministry of Culture of Cuba and the National Council of the Visual Arts of Cuba, which have always had the support of diplomatic offices accredited in our respective countries.

The focus on Flora Fong and her work to participate in this prestigious event, whose selection depends on a rigorous Curatorial Committee, composed of renowned international specialists, is a well-deserved tribute to the fifty years of never-interrupted artistic production of this descendant of a Chinese father; as well as recognition of her seventieth birthday on November 11.