The Art Journey across the Aegean 

—— CFLAC Artists’ Visit in Turkey and Greece 

As is well known, Turkey and Greece have their own uniqueness and importance in the fields of culture and arts. The CFLAC Fine Arts Team of 8 artists, headed by Liu Jian, Secretary General of China Artists Association (CAA), went to both countries to carry out 11 days’ creation and exchange from April 16. 

Blue Turkey 

On the night of the Team’s arrival in Istanbul, Zhang Qingxiang, Consul General of Consulate-General of China in Istanbul received the Team. In his opinion, Istanbul—Izmir is the most classical route for artists’ creation and art research, which travels southwards along the sea. He believed that artists will gain lots of art experience in Turkey. In Istanbul, the ancient sites of mosques enabled the Team to have a deeper understanding of the long history of Turkey and the culture and arts related to Islamism, while the museums of contemporary art, paintings and sculptures showcased the current situation of contemporary Turkish art. After World War II, as a large number of Turkish artists moved to Germany and France for further study, the western modernist art ideologies and disciplines exerted great influences on Turkey fine arts. Some artists totally accepted western art conceptions and there was no difference between their creation and western ones; while some artists combined the Turkish traditions and carried out art exploration continuously. To summarize, contemporary Turkish arts have multiple forms and diametrically different styles. In Izmir, reputed as Bright Pearl of the Aegean, there were lots of ancient sites, those dilapidated walls of ruins, such as the ancient sites of Ephesus in experience of  vicissitudes, the theater accommodating 25,000 audiences, the library with the height of two storeys, the sacred temple propped by 127 stone columns, the streets paved with marbles, the plaza at the intersection, the big fountain and ancient Roman baths, all of which seemed to tell thousands-year sadness in the sketch books of Chinese artists. 

Mass Models in Greece 

When the Team arrived in Athens, capital of Greece, Zheng Xiyuan, chargé d'affaires of Chinese Embassy in Greece humorously introduced the history and current situation of Greece. His words aroused the Chinese artists’ explorative desires towards this remarkable land, and all of them couldn’t wait to capture the beauty of Greece with their own painting brush. The Team visited Acropolis of Athens, the National Archaeological Museum, Delphi, a mysterious place of ancient Greece and known as the Navel of the World, and Santorini Island that is described as Brilliant Pearl of the Aegean, the Most Beautiful Resort in the World. Artists, greatly attracted by the vitality, simplicity, mystery and serenity in this magic land, were painting all the time in order to keep the everlasting charms of this ancient country in their works. Such creative passions of Chinese artists also moved the local people as well. Drivers, restaurant owners, lovers when drinking coffee and children travelling with their parents were excited to be chosen as models and readily asked for the Chinese artists to sign their names and took photos together as souvenirs.  

Since Greek Artists Association (GAA) has kept good cooperation with CAA, on April 26, vice president, director general of Int’l Liaison Dept. of GAA and the two artists Vangelis Rinas (He held his first personal exhibition in China undertaken by CAA.) and met with the Team. They marveled at excellent works of Chinese artists in the sketch books. Vangelis Rinas remarked that his journey to China brought significant impact on his art creation because he was amazed by Chinese time-honored history and then deliberately integrated this culture into his creation.