Florence | Sala delle Feste – Grand Hall | Palazzo Bastogi – Bastogi Palace
Consiglio Regionale della Toscana – Regional Council of Tuscany
(via Camillo Benso di Cavour, 18)
october 11th-18th 2018
Opening on Thursday October 11th, at 5:00 p.m.
The Chinese Rice Paper and Painting exhibition, a selection of about 80 works on fine Xuan rice paper by important contemporary Chinese artists as Xu Li, Liu Weidong, Yang Guoxin, Shang Ke, Tang Chenghua, Lei Ziren, Lv Shaoqing, Li Jie, Gu Ping, Gu Ying, Shi Lan, Zhang Fuye, He Jiaying, Zhang Yonghai, Lv Xiaoping, Zhao Shengli, Zou Tao, Wang Ciao, Hu Shiping, Ma Jinghu, opened in Florence on Thursday October the 11th in the Grand Hall of the Bastogi Palace, seat of the Tuscan Regional Council.
This exhibition, arising in the context of the "Belt and Road" and "Chinese Cultural Heritage Promotion” projects, was first held in China, organised by the Polytechnic University of Anhui, the City of Xuancheng, and the Xuanzhi Ltd. paper industry. It is organised in Florence by Zhong Art International with the cooperation of the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation, under the patronage of the Tuscan Region, the City and Metropolitan Area of Florence and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Florence. .
Eugenio Giani (Tuscany Region) and Xiuzhong Zhang (Zhong Art International) amid guests
Paper was first invented and used in China. Among its various types, Rice paper, also known as Xuan paper sinceXuancheng is the capital of its production, is the most widely used. Renowned worldwide, manufactured with the highest quality materials and through complex artisan processes, it
Eugenio Giani being interviewed
The discovery of this material is narrated in a legend: there was a papermaker named Kong Dan, apprentice of China's first papermaker, Cai Lun. To commemorate his master, he decided to paint his portrait on a sheet of the highest quality paper. It was on this occasion that he discovered the green sandalwood tree, whose bark turns extraordinarily white when immersed in water. And so it was that Kong Dan, after years and years of tireless study and experiments, finally succeeded in producing the incomparably white Xuan paper. This rice paper is as white as snow, it has the softness of cotton, and its resistance as well as the ease with which ink can be applied make it particularly suitable for painting. In 2006, the Xuan papermaking technique was acknowledged by the Chinese Ministry of Culture as "intangible cultural heritage of the Nation", and in 2009 it was also included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Xuan paper is still being manufactured by means of the ancient process and this exhibition aims to link the traditional culture and the world of contemporary Chinese art.
Today we are witnessing a historic leap, as Chinese President Xi Jinping himself pointed out, referring to the fruitful relationship established and developed in recent years between China and Italy. The project intends to support this positive feeling to increasingly strengthen the cooperation that has found within culture and arts an example to be extended to other fields.
Xiuzhong Zhang, President of Zhong Art International, organizer of the exhibition
Chinese Rice Paper and Painting
Sala delle Feste | Palazzo Bastogi
Consiglio Regionale della Toscana
11 – 18 october 2018
Florence, 18, via Cavour
Opening hours: from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm, from Monday to Friday. Closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Phone : +39 055 – 538 5702 ; +39 327 – 218 3721 | info@zhongart.it | www.zhongart.it
Press Office: Davis & Co. | Lea Codognato and Caterina Briganti
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