Exhibition of contemporary Chinese art kicks off in historic Fiat factory

An exhibition of contemporary Chinese art opened here on Saturday in the gallery hosting the collections belonged to the late Fiat president Gianni Agnelli and his wife, located in the old factory of the Italian leading car company.

The "China Power Station" exhibition presents the creative explosion of contemporary Chinese art through installations, films, sculptures, photographs, computer graphics and paintings mostly created between 2005 and 2007, curators said at the opening event.

An evolving project, part of the permanent collection of Oslo's Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art and first staged in London in 2006, the exhibition was presented by vice president of the Agnelli art gallery, the granddaughter of Gianni Agnelli Ginevra Elkann.

It was the Agnelli descendant who decided to display the exhibition of contemporary Chinese art in Turin, when she visited it for the first time in Oslo.

"When I first saw these art works, I immediately realized how much valuable would be for Turin citizens the opportunity to acquaint with this new kind of Chinese language, which tells stories about universal topics of identities, history and memory," Elkann told Xinhua.

"During a recent trip to China, I spent some pleasant time watching artists at work. China's weight is increasing fast on the international scene, and I think that finding common cultural languages, like art, is a good step to further boost mutual understanding," she added.

Speaking at the opening event, president of Italy-China Foundation Cesare Romiti stressed that the exhibition was unveiled on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Italian diplomatic ties.

"Today is a memorable day for our two country's long-term friendship. Exactly 40 years ago, Italy and China, both nations with millenary civilizations, started deepening their cooperation in a number of fields," he said.

Romiti stressed that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao largely encouraged cultural exchanges to bridge mutual understanding during his visit to Rome last October, when he formally opened the Chinese Culture Year in Italy.

Being also the president of Rome's Academy of Fine Arts, Romiti noted that a significantly increasing number of Chinese students are joining Italy's art universities.

Curator of the Turin show Hans Ulrich Obrist said that young Chinese artists represent their motherland as a modern synthesis of the international contemporary world within the precious heritage of Chinese traditional culture and values.

"Many of them are already renowned and appreciated in international museums and private galleries," he said, adding that their exhibitions will become more and more frequent, especially in China.

Source: Xinhua