“Lanting Culture Salon” Ink Wash Painting Workshop and Lecture on Dunhuang Mural Art

On the afternoon of October 13, “Lanting Culture Salon” Ink Wash Painting Workshop and Lecture on Dunhuang Mural Art by China National Academy of Painting was held at China Cultural Center in Stockholm, Sweden. Wang Qingyun, Vice President of Chinese National Academy of Painting, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Dai Weihong, Deputy Director of China Cultural Center in Stockholm, and local audiences were present.

In December 2024, Chinese National Academy of Painting held “Tradition & Innovation – Chinese Art Exhibition of China National Academy of Painting” at China Cultural Center in Stockholm, showcasing contemporary Chinese painting to the local audience. This exchange activity featured face-to-face discussions between artists from the Academy and the audience on the characteristics and expressive techniques of Chinese painting. In his speech, Wang Qingyun stated that through exchanges with Europe, Chinese National Academy of Painting deeply felt the power of art to transcend language. This exchange event in Sweden not only allowed participants to get a preliminary taste of the profound charm of Chinese painting but also demonstrated the inheritance and innovation of Chinese painting today from different perspectives.

Wang Zhi, a researcher from Theoretical Research Institute of Chinese National Academy of Painting, began with the Swedish sinologist Osvald Sirén and vividly explained the artistic value and cultural significance of Dunhuang murals, as well as the role of the Silk Road in cultural exchanges between the East and the West. Wang Yuekui, Deputy Director of Landscape Painting Institute, and Xu Dongqing, a full-time artist at Flower-and-Bird Painting Institute of Chinese National Academy of Painting, explained the characteristics and usage methods of the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone in Chinese painting to the audience and taught them simple techniques of Chinese painting.

The audience was highly enthusiastic about creating. They picked up their brushes, lightly dipped them in paint, and applied strokes with care. Under the patient guidance of the artists, one vivid and heartfelt Chinese painting after another came to life. The audience remarked that the lines in Chinese painting are remarkably concise, yet they profoundly convey inner emotions, making them deeply expressive and allowing one to feel a sense of spiritual resonance.