On the afternoon of August 13, 2022, with the beautiful piano music at the Arts Centre of Christchurch, the second stop of the New Zealand tour exhibition of Chinese artist Zhong Liu's Beijing Winter Olympics Long Scroll of Ice and Snow National Treasures was held at the the Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand.
Roy Lu, the representative of the organizing committee and the president of the New Zealand Everyone an Artist Trust (EAA), delivered a speech first, and extended a warm welcome to the Chinese artist Zhong Liu's Beijing Winter Olympics Ice and Snow National Treasure New Zealand tour exhibition in Christchurch. Yuan Zong, the chairman of the board of directors of Auckland International Art Gallery (AI Art Gallery), and the chief curator, introduced the origin of this touring exhibition, and emphasized that on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand, this art touring exhibition is of great significance to strengthening cultural exchanges between the two countries. Jianning Shan, the president of the New Zealand China Union of Culture and Arts, delivered a speech, saying that he would take this tour as an opportunity to work hard to promote the development of cultural exchanges between China and New Zealand.
Additionally, Ying He, Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Christchurch, delivered a speech, congratulating the successful exhibition of the art tour in Christchurch, and wishing the friendly relations between China and New Zealand to continue to develop. Candy Zhang, Senior Advisor of the Ministry of Ethnic Communities, and Jimmy Chen, Councillor of Christchurch City Council, delivered speeches and wished the art tour a complete success.
Those who also attended the opening ceremony were David Qin, president of the New Zealand-China Friendship Association, Ping Huang, the editor-in-chief of Asia Bridge, and more than 200 people from all walks of life. As a cultural exchange project between China and New Zealand, Chinese artist Zhong Liu painted the giant panda-themed Chinese painting for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. On 6 August, the artwork was at Auckland International Art Gallery where the opening ceremony of the first exhibition was held.
Zhong Liu, born in Beijing in 1969, is currently the director of the Outreach Department of the China Artists Association. His works have been selected to be exhibited in many countries such as Britain, France, the United States, and Russia, and have been collected by many museums at home and abroad. This long scroll of Chinese painting is 1 meter high and 202.2 meters long. It has drawn more than 5,000 artistic images of pandas of various shapes. Using the expression of panda portraits in Chinese painting, it vividly interprets and draws 109 groups of ice and snow sports for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Among them, 35 were selected to travel to New Zealand. Mr. Zhong Liu's panda portraits for two New Zealand gold medalists at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were also exhibited at the same time as the New Zealand touring paintings of the Ice and Snow National Treasure Long Scroll.
The organizer has chosen an auspicious and meaningful name for this New Zealand touring exhibition - Frozen Art Art Exhibition, which not only reflects the sincere wishes of the author and the Chinese people for the successful hosting of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, but also is a good wish to strengthen the cultural and artistic exchanges between China and New Zealand and promote the continuous development of friendly relations between the two countries, because the time of this art tour coincides with the freezing and snowy winter season in New Zealand. The tour exhibition was warmly welcomed by the people of Christchurch. By introducing China's panda culture and Chinese painting art, the exhibition publicizes the success of the Beijing Winter Olympics, and makes the panda art loved by the people of the world, as a link of friendly exchanges with the people of the world, spreads Chinese culture, and enhances mutual trust and understanding between the people of China and New Zealand. The exhibition will last two days on 13 and 14 August in Christchurch, as the second stop of the tour exhibition, and then it will continue with the third stop in Queenstown.
