Following the success of the launch of China Intangible Cultural Heritage Weeks, two combined exhibitions, namely, “Memories in Oracle Bone Script” and “Chinese Characters Code — NICE Choice Cultural Creative Products Exhibition”, held their opening ceremonies on the evening of 27th July, 2017.
H.E. Gu Xiaojie (Ambassadorial Rank), Consul General of People’s Republic of China in Sydney, Mr. Zhang Yingbao, Cultural Counselor, Dr. Jon Eugene von Kowallis, Professor and Chair of Chinese Studies in the School of Humanities and Languages at UNSW, City of Sydney Counsillor Robert kok and Associate Professor Dr Emma Junfang Xi, Chinese Director, Confucius Institute at UNSW Australia attended the inauguration, along with other Chinese delegations and more than a hundred attendees.
H.E. Consul General Gu Xiaojie thanked China Cultural Centre for bringing the ‘best of the best’ exhibits to Sydney. He also praised China Cultural Centre on its dedication and enthusiasm for bringing the people of two nations together. He said:”CCC in Sydney played a very important role for bringing the cultures and the peoples of two countries together. The friendship between peoples is the foundation of state to state relations. These important cultural events in many ways depict the culture, the linguistics and history of the country, which we can learn a lot from and I do hope that they will be continued.”
Councillor Robert Kok also commended the cultural events hosted by China Cultural Centre in his speech. “Australia is a vibrant multicultural country. Cross-cultural awareness and understanding is particularly important in this city.”He also mentioned that this exhibition about cultural heritage allows the newer generation and particularly overseas born Chinese to learn about and be proud of Chinese culture.
Professor Kowallis gave some thoughts on the exhibition in fluent Chinese and English. “This exhibition is introducing some fundamental aspects of Chinese culture – Oracle Bone Scripts and Chinese Calligraphy.” He stressed that these aspects have great influence on ancient Chinese culture, which has ramifications continued all the way down to present day. He concluded by saying: “Chinese characters in a way have been strengthened in recent years, not only because they’ve been recognised for their artistic value, but also their use in design which are quite prominent in the west. “
The two combined exhibitions brought together the historical stories and evolution of Chinese Characters over a span of 3000 years, while Dr. Du Hao, PhD of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Associate Research Fellow at Prince Kung’s Mansion of Ministry of Culture of China, on the other hand, enlightened the audience with comparisons between Chinese and Western culture and an ingenious explanation of the representation of the Chinese culture characteristics in calligraphy, in the lecture he delivered following the ceremony.
The free exhibitions takes place throughout July and August.
