Awards Presented! – 2023 “Colorful World” International Youth Painting Invitational Exhibition Opens

The award and opening ceremonies of the 2023 “Colorful World · World Cultural Heritage” International Youth Painting Invitational Exhibition took place at China National Film Museum on November 6, 2023.

Since the call for entries was launched in May 2023, more than 43,000 entries have been received from young people aged 4 to 18 across 61 countries, including China’s 31 provincial-level regions, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as foreign countries such as Australia, Germany, Malaysia, Mauritius, Spain, and the United States.

Guest delivering remarks

Zhang Qian, Executive Vice President of the BPAFFC, delivered a speech on behalf of the hosts. She said that young people participating in the exhibition depicted the significance of heritage preservation and people-to-people bond and showcased the charm of China, drawing high attention from people from all walks of life and media at home and abroad. Their works called for action to implement the Global Civilization Initiative, demonstrated the diversity of the world’s civilizations, and built consensus on win-win cooperation, harmony, and shared prosperity among civilizations. She called on the international community to strengthen dialogue and promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and work together to protect the cultural heritage of humanity.

Zhu Dan, Director General of the Cultural Exchange Department of the CPAFFC, gave a speech on behalf of the CPAFFC. She pointed out that young people are obligated to preserve the diverse civilizations of humanity and promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. She hoped that young people could aspire to be the inheritor and champion of civilizations and the promoter of exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and take joint action to build a colorful world and a great future where all prosper individually and collectively.

Evgenios Dimitrios, Ambassador of the Republic of Greece to China, expressed congratulations on the success of the Exhibition. He said that in an ever-evolving world fraught with challenges, the only sure way toward a better future is mutual learning among civilizations and among peoples. A colorful world consists of diverse civilizations, and every color should be present on our canvas. The Exhibition gave thousands of young people an opportunity to express themselves through painting, depict their colorful dreams, show their talent, and express wishes for a better world.

Awards ceremony

After expert reviews and a final review by the organizing committee, 287 entries created by foreign youngsters and 1,140 entries by Chinese youngsters were shortlisted. The first, second, and third prizes were announced at the event, and the diplomas and medals were presented to representatives of the winners. Winners from foreign countries talked about how they felt about the awards via video. They introduced their works in different languages, shared their views on world cultural heritage, and called on the public to be involved in the preservation of world cultural heritage.

The art exhibition has attracted attention and gained support from a number of friendship organizations and overseas Chinese groups in 60 countries and more than 2,000 schools and art institutions at home and abroad. To appreciate the strong support from all organizations involved, the organizing committee set up the excellent organization award. Wang Yanxia, Vice President of the BPAFFC, announced the 180 winners of the excellent organization award. Huang Chunyan, Vice President of the Tianjin People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Xu Qiang, Secretary-General of the Hebei People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, presented the award to the winning organizations, and shared the experience in strengthening collaboration and promoting exchanges in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

At the awards ceremony, children from the Happy Castle Art School danced Expecting You, the theme song welcoming guests of the 44th Session of the World Heritage Committee. Their beautiful song and dance immersed the audience in the famous cultural heritage of Beijing and a timeless, colorful world. Beijing YanZhiWu Dance School performed Now Until the Future, the theme song of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, expressing their wishes to march toward the future together and embrace a more beautiful world featuring openness, inclusiveness, common development, and harmony.

Young artists from Sichuan and Guangxi created three long scrolls depicting the world cultural heritage in BRI partner countries, 10 world cultural heritage sites in China, and the colorful central axis of Beijing. These scrolls represent harmony and coexistence among different cultures and signify the Silk Road spirit of openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit.

The exhibition opens

The exhibition consists of three zones: international exhibition zone, domestic exhibition zone, and colorful central axis of Beijing exhibition zone, and will be open to the public till November 20, 2023. The online exhibition will be open on the dedicated website at the same time.

The winners waving their national flag took a group photo with the guests around the paper-cut scroll depicting world cultural heritage, and they together took a tour around the art exhibition.

With guidance from the CPAFFC and support from the Information Office of Beijing Municipality and the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, the art exhibition is co-hosted by the BPAFFC, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, Beijing Women’s Federation, the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau, China National Film Museum, the Beijing NGO Association for International Exchanges, and Intercontinental Communication Center, and co-organized by the Hebei People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Tianjin People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the Beijing International Peace Culture Foundation. Leading officials from the Embassy of Greece in China, the Russian Cultural Center, the CPAFFC, the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress, the organizers, the co-organizers, and the sponsors attended the event and presented awards to the representatives of the winners.