Cultural exchanges between China and Germany marked at Shanghai exhibition

In his most revered writing Lantingji Xu ("Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion"), Wang Xizhi, a fourth-century calligrapher, created a phrase — youmu chenghuai — meaning "let the eye travel extensively so that the heart and mind are set free". The philosophy echoes a tendency in the Chinese cultural traditions that one should travel as often and far as possible so that his vision is truly widened and his mind is able to be open up more.

View, the Landscape on the Bridge, an exhibition at Shanghai New Gallery of Art, shows the efforts of Chinese artists to carry on this tradition in a new context — they have traveled much further around the world, compared to their predecessors in ancient times, to a different continent and embraced different styles of art.

Curated by Fan Di'an, dean of Central Academy of Fine Arts, the exhibition teams up 37 artists who have worked and lived in Germany in the past four decades. It shows their explorations with art and observations of the two cultures.

The exhibition will tour Shandong and Jiangsu province.