Exhibition, Part Of 2nd Arabic Arts Festival, Continues Through Friday
Visiting artists from around the Middle East took part in performing and visual arts events this week in Beijing (Photo: Global Times)
Part of the 2nd annual Arabic Arts Festival in Beijing, which kicked off on June 18 and closes this Friday, a rare exhibition of traditional and contemporary art from 16 nations of the League of Arab States is currently being held at the city’s Capital Museum. At the exhibition, visitors can check out more than 300 works by artists from countries like Egypt, Oman, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, including Egyptian embroidery, Moroccan metalworking, and Palestinian pottery.
In addition to these and other traditional handicrafts, contemporary photography and painting sheds light on the perhaps little-known yet vibrant art communities developing in several Middle Eastern countries.
“We are trying to present the best of Arabic art through this exhibition,” Zhang Yu, director of the China Arts and Entertainment Group, which organized the exhibition, told the Global Times at the opening ceremony earlier this week. “It is really a very good chance for our Chinese audience get to know Arabic culture and art of both its past and present.”
In addition to the traditional and contemporary art exhibition, other activities staged, or soon to take place, at the 2nd annual Arabic Arts Festival include four performing arts programs, fashion exhibitions and a Chinese and Arabic Cultural Forum. But for those who can’t make it to Beijing within the next couple of days can catch it in Shanghai, where it will be staged at the Shanghai World Expo grounds beginning next week.
