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Russian
President Vladimir Putin on a visit to the Shaolin Temple.
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A
Russian folk dance. |
Portraits
of the artists whose works constitute the Russian Art over
300 Years exhibition on display in front of Beijing’s
National Art Museum of China.
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The year 2006 in China is dedicated to Russia, and 2007 will
be Russia’s Year of China. Both countries are to host a wide
range of cultural activities aimed at promoting mutual understanding
between the Chinese and Russian peoples.
Gap in Cultural Communications
Li Qiang, a 22-year-old English major at the Beijing Foreign
Studies University, became enamored with Russian culture after
watching the Russian TV series Bednaya Nastya (Poor Anastasia).
This romance, whose heroine is the Romanov princess Anastasia,
youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas, is a sophisticated, 100-episode
production that marks a new era in Russian drama. First broadcast
by CCTV in 2005, it was shown again in 2006, after a clamor of
requests from Chinese TV viewers, the majority of them in Li Qiang’s
age group.
To Jia Bo, deputy director of the All-China Youth Federation
International Department, the warm response to Bednaya Nastya
signifies that Sino-Russian cultural exchanges should move on
from commemorating the past to anticipating the future. He is
convinced that consolidation and development of the strategic
partnership between China and Russia depends not only on the leadership
of the two countries but also on grassroots communication among
their young people, by means of TV, cinema, music, literature,
arts and the Internet.
Many Chinese seniors have fond memories of things Russian, for
instance the natty Lenin suit and beautiful platye (women’s
button-through dress) that were once so popular, and the wealth
of Russian films and music that were enjoyed by all. The name
Pavel, taken from the character Pavel Korchagin, hero of Nikolai
Ostrovsky’s How the Steel Was Tempered, was also commonly
heard, being synonymous with outstanding services rendered to
China’s socialist construction by patriotic young men. But
since the 1960s, circumstances have prevented succeeding generations
from sharing in the rich splendor of Russian culture and arts.
In recent years, with the improvement of relations between the
two countries, Chinese people have shown a renewed interest in
Russian culture. A questionnaire jointly compiled by the Central
Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and Tsinghua
University revealed that 64.5 percent of students are interested
in Russia. However, due to rarity of Russian works among China’s
annual cultural imports, few could name a contemporary Russian
artist or pop singer.
Russian Influence
The Year of Russia in China commenced with the “Russian
Art over 300 Years” exhibition at Beijing’s National
Art Museum of China, which opened from March 22 to May 15. The
exhibition comprised 110 paintings from Moscow’s Tretyakov
Art Gallery, Russia’s national museum of fine arts. It provided
a summary depiction of the development of Russian art through
the 18th to the 20th century. Meanwhile, a more modern aspect
of Russian art entitled “An Open Russia,” featuring
oil paintings, woodblock prints, sculptures and installation pieces,
was also on show within the same museum.
Xi Jingzhi, professor of fine arts history at Tsinghua University,
believes that this, the largest exhibition of Russian oils in
the past few decades, has special significance for mature Chinese
art lovers, simply because the People’s Republic of China
spent its first decade under the protective wing of Russian influence.
“We sang Russian songs, watched Russian films, and our fine
art courses were taught in the Russian tradition,” Professor
Xi recalls.
May young adults feel an emotional attachment to Russia by virtue
of their grandparents’ reminiscences of the color it brought
to their lives. For Li Fang, student at the Sichuan Academy of
Fine Art, Russian oils have a particular fascination. She feels
an affinity with “…. their realistically vital images
that evoke the vicissitudes of each age.”
The Year of Russia in China will also provide an opportunity
to see priceless exhibits from the Kremlin Museum, as well as
a Russian folklore exhibition arranged by the Saint Petersburg
Municipal Museum and an exhibition of 19th century realist art
contributed by various provincial Russian museums. In addition,
more than 1,000 Russian actors, dancers, singers and musicians
will come to perform in China.
Bridge of Communication
“My grandfather was in China during the 1950s helping to
build the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge. He cherishes his memories
of that time,” says 29-year-old Russian journalist Ekaterina
Feltgina, concluding, “Today’s China magnetizes the
attention of young Russians that want to know more about Chinese
culture and people’s lives.”
Half a century ago, Chinese and Russian youths established friendships
by writing letters. Today the Internet offers a more efficient
channel of communication. Russian pop singer Vitas has never been
to China, but the Internet has made him one of its hottest pop
stars. The Chinese Fans of Vitas Internet Federation has more
than 30,000 members.
“The Russian Year in China and Russia’s reciprocation
provides a chance for people, particularly the youth, to understand
one another and learn about current developments in their respective
countries,” explains Sergey Razov, Russian ambassador to
China.
Russian people have long been fascinated with their main Eastern
neighbor, and Russian sinologists are respected around the world
for their outstanding achievements in studies of Chinese art,
theater and literature.
In recent years, an ever increasing number of Chinese artists,
exponents of martial arts and culinary specialists have made trips
to Russia to satisfy the growing number of people interested in
traditional Chinese art, kungfu and, last but not the least, Chinese
cookery. In Moscow, Chinese shops large and small resound with
voices bargaining in Chinese, and an increasing number of Russian
tourists are coming to China. An unidentified Russian official
confirms: “Over the past few years cultural, scientific and
technological exchanges between Russia and China have flourished,
yet they still fall short of the expectations of the peoples of
the two countries. Most Russians are unfamiliar with China’s
current developments, and many Chinese people still retain an
obsolete image of Russia and its peoples.”
This state of affairs, however, will soon be a thing of the past.
A common interest in the arts, coupled with geographical proximity,
herald a new era of Sino/Russian friendship.
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