2 -
to examine with the
subject to the
The purpose of my recent visit was cultural, Chinese the possibility of marking the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty in 1997 by a major Festival of the Arts, overriding need to reach a political accommodation on that issue between our respective governments. Everywhere I went, I found an intense pride in the cultural achievements of the country from the awe-inspiring Terracotta Army, surely the eighth wonder of the Ancient World - created to protect the earthly remains of Emperor Qin Shi Huang who inherited the throne in 246 BC; to those of the present day; And an equally intense appetite to learn more about British culture, for which the Chinese have a high regard, and our way of
life.
The proposition, which would require the closest liaison between the Arts Council of Great Britain and The British Council, would involve a Festival of Chinese Arts in Britain, and its British equivalent in China. The former would embrace all the Arts of China, together with the possible participation of Taiwan, in order to make it truly
In the two years leading up representative of the whole continent.
to 1997, there would be a programme of curatorial, technological and student exchange. As a means of marking the transfer of Hong Kong, as well as the Millennium itself, it would be difficult to imagine a more appropriate undertaking, since it would fulfil three essential criteria: the act of celebration, the raising of expectations and the uplifting of the spirit.
I would hope that both countries would agree to offer a balance of old and new, a selected range of the fabulous treasures that each
A loan exhibition of British paintings possesses in such abundance.
by the great masters, past and present, would be an essential ingredient; whilst an exhibition of 20th century sculpture in which we are particularly rich Epstein, Moore, Hepworth, Caro, Paolozzi,
to name but a few, Goldsworthy, Nash, Long, Hamilton Finlay,
Y
would generate enormous
interest.
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