“Grandi Aspirazioni - L’arte del mondo di Qi Baishi”

“Great Aspirations - The Art of Qi Baishi’s World”

Fabbrica del Vapore - Comune di Milano

Via Giulio Cesare Procaccini, 4, Milan

from Friday, October 28 to Saturday November 26, 2022,

Opening time Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00 AM / 7.00PM,

Thursday extended until 10.00 PM.

Free admission.

At 7.00 PM on Friday October 28, 'Grandi Aspirazioni - L'arte del mondo di Qi Baishi', the exhibition designed by the Fine Arts Academy of Beijing, was inaugurated at the Fabbrica del Vapore. The opening event was attended by Tommaso Sacchi, City Councilor for Culture, Maria Fratelli, Fabbrica del Vapore Director, Liu Kan, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Milan, Li Jinsheng, China Arts and Entertainment Group President, and Zhang Xiuzhong, President and Founder of Zhong Art International.

A video greeting by Wu Hongliang, curator of the exhibition and President of the Beijing Fine Arts Academy, was also screened. Several members of the Milan Chinese community attended the opening ceremony.

The initiative, promoted by Bauhinia Culture Group Co. Ltd, the Department of Culture and Tourism of the City of Beijing and the Department of Culture of the Milan Municipality,organised by China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd., by the Beijing Fine Arts Academy and by the Fabbrica del Vapore, was implemented by the China International Exhibition Agency and Zhong Art International, under the patronage of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Milan.

Qi Baishi (1864-1957) has been the most prestigious, creative and influential master of the 20th Century Chinese painting: a keen observer of nature, he depicted it with an unconventional, refined and elegant style and with unsurpassed technique. The layout of the exhibition follows the traditional Chinese way of presenting this kind of artwork, displaying them along an itinerary bordered by light panels and sheer bamboo mats, also allowing visitors to handle some paintings and admire them closely as the ancient literati, gathered in their beautiful gardens to converse about art, used to do.

The paintings on display are fine reproductions done on the same handmade 'Xuang' rice paper and with the same natural pigments used by the Master.

The ink painting techniques practised by Qi Baishi, together with calligraphy, the art of seals and poetry, are still being taught and handed down today.

On Saturday 5 November, at the Fabbrica del Vapore, a free online conference dedicated to Qi Baishi's work and the relations between Chinese and Italian cultures was held, moderated by Prof. Alessandra Lavagnino of Istituto Confucio. The Chinese experts spoke from the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts while the Italians Prof. Ada Lombardi, Lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, Prof. Francesco Morena, scholar of Oriental culture and Oriental art specialist and Prof. Elena di Raddo, Lecturer at the Milan Catholic University were in attendance.

On Thursday mornings, Friday afternoons and throughout the weekend, cultural mediators were available to accompany visitors, free of charge.

In addition, parallel to the exhibition, thanks to the collaboration of the Istituto Confucio, free Chinese calligraphy workshops, for adults and for children, preceded by an introductory meeting, have been held by master Fu Haifeng,