Chinese painting lecture helps kids convey good wishes for Olympics

Lecturer Zheng Qinyan (second from right), who is also a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, helps children with their painting in Beijing, at a lecture on Chinese ink and wash, an event to promote good wishes for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics via traditional Chinese painting, on Dec 19, 2021. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A lecture on Chinese ink and wash was held on Sunday in Beijing, teaching children how to convey good wishes for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics via traditional Chinese painting.

More than 20 children age 7 to 14 from member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including Pakistan and Russia, attended the class. Many are students at the Research Center of Children's Artworks, part of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

The lecture was also accompanied by an online session attended by eight children from the Shihezi Kindergarten in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The lecture, themed Winter Olympics Dream in Chinese Ink and Wash, was part of the SCO Countries Art Exhibition of Children and Young Artists jointly organized by the All-China Women's Federation; the Ministry of Education; the SCO's Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission; the Central Academy of Fine Arts; the Pakistan and Russian embassies; the SCO Secretariat; and the SCO Center for Public Diplomacy in Uzbekistan.

The exhibition called for submissions earlier this month. Selected paintings will be sent to the secretariat of SCO's Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission on Dec 28 and will be assembled into a long scroll to displayed online in January.

On Sunday morning, the children paid a visit to the SCO Secretariat before attending the two-hour class.

Vladimir Norov, the SCO's secretary-general, said in his opening remarks that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is an international event that athletes and spectators around the world are looking forward to.

He said the works of the participating children with a focus on the Games reflected "peace, friendship, common development and aspiration for good and kindness".