Following a visit of a Chinese group of students and their parents to Sri Lanka, facilitated by the Consulate General, a mixed media painting exhibition organized by the school founder Ms Jing Xia, was held at the School in the Gubei area Shanghai, recently. Ms. Xia, a professor in Arts at the Design & Art Department, Dong Hua University in Shanghai, is a well known artist and art teacher in Shanghai, who has pioneered the use of diversified materials to promote creativity in painting in China. She is known both in China and abroad, having had 46 exhibitions. The School founded in 2004, has over 6 branches in Shanghai.
The group visited Sri Lanka in early April 2013 over the Chinese Spring Festival Holidays and had done many on-the-spot paintings, in places, such as Sigiriya, the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, tea plantations and beaches. The Consulate General also arranged for the Group to visit the Cora Ibrahim Art School in Sri Lanka for an interactive session between students of art from the two countries to share their different cultures.
The painting exhibition in Shanghai, commenced with the lighting of the oil lamp by all the student painters. Some parents that accompanied the students to Sri Lanka, also exhibited some of their works at the exhibition alongside the works of students. The exhibition was attended by the group that visited Sri Lanka, as well as a number of parents and students that had not visited Sri Lanka. The Consulate General provided some Sri Lankan snacks and tea and showcased Sri Lanka as a tourist destination through a audiovisual presentation.
Ms. Xia assured that similar sightseeing and painting tours to Sri Lanka would be organized in the future and would become a regular activity in the school calendar.
Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Shanghai
October 2013
