On the day a 12-day show of UK artists’ work in China was launched, reporters were told that the fifth Meet in Beijing Arts Festival will also open on April 28, with thousands of artists from more than 30 countries staging over 100 performances and four large exhibitions.

At a press conference in Beijing, Zhang Yu, general manager of the China Arts and Entertainment Group, said the festival would hold four performances on each day of its 34-day schedule in 20 large theaters and squares throughout the city.

Zhang said a large singing and dancing performances featuring Chinese culture would kick off the festival, in addition to a Chinese performance series including ballet, drama and opera.

Pu Tong, a senior Ministry of Culture official, said culture has become increasingly important in relationships with other countries. The festival this time will showcase the arts of Denmark, France and other EU countries.

Denmark's National Symphony Orchestra, the oldest broadcasting orchestra in the world, will be invited to perform as conclusion to the festival, and give a children's concert to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen's birth.

The French Preljocaj ballet troupe, in tune with the ongoing French Culture Year in China, will stage a modern ballet adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the EU and China. Outdoor performances are an outstanding character of Meet in Beijing and the popular music series staged in Chaoyang Park last year attracted 170,000 people, Pu said.

This year, artists from 15 countries will give 50 outdoor performances and even more in theaters. Weeklong performances will also be staged at Beijing University, for the first time.

Exhibitions will include Picasso's works, Louis XIV treasures from Versailles, New Wave masterpieces from the Pompidou Center and Finnish design arts.

Before the festival, seven artists from the UK Royal Academy of Arts are showing works on modern China at the China Art Gallery in Beijing. They are John Bellany, Paul Huxley, Allen Jones, David Mach, Ian McKeever, Brendan Neiland and Chris Orr. The works on display range from oil paintings and prints to sculptures.

Since 2003, each has toured China at the invitation of the Red Mansion Foundation, a non profitable organization dedicated to the promotion of China-UK cultural communication.

The artists chose only what they are interested in, whether skyscrapers or neon lights in big cities, traditional temples, a tax driver in a small alleyway or the smile of a farmer.

Apart from the exhibition, the artists will also be invited to give lectures in the Central Academy of Fine Arts and exchange views on China's arts market with Chinese counterparts.

The Red Mansion Foundation was founded in 2000 in London, and has set up an annual award for students at the six top UK art schools.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2005)