"At the small pavilion by the ancient roadside, a vast land of fragrant grass seems to merge with the sky..."

Accompanied by this piping children's chorus, the Second China West Lake International Sculpture Invitational Exhibition opened its prelude on an island in Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province, last weekend.

Placed among trees, in water and on grass, 48 sculptural works of all kinds and of all shapes have blended into the autumn scenes of the island Gushan - meaning a "solitary hill" - once home to some of China's most outstanding artists and literati in history.

The works, focusing on the theme of "perennial songs," are creations of 50 sculptors from home and abroad.

Cast with their reverence and eager expectations, the bronze and iron works bear their own messages as well, messages that may remind visitors of ancient Chinese artists who used to live in Gushan, old stories or of the great changes of the day or of the world.

"This year's exhibition highlights the human spirit, artists' love for nature, memory of the past and thoughts on life," said Xu Jiang, chief director of the exhibition and president of the China Academy of Fine Arts based in Hangzhou.

The work "Extrusion - A Topic of Pressure," by Xu Gangfu from Southwest China's Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, offers visitors an opportunity to think about their life.

He placed three distorted sculptures of human heads on the grass.

The smooth surface of extrusion forms a sharp contrast with the rough surfaces beneath, as if a rash boy was trying to grow up to be a tactful adult.

The startling scene shocked everyone but, at the same time, may somehow have touched an indistinct mood of "depression" in the bottom of the visitors' hearts, as they pondered upon the things that they may have missed during their busy, everyday life.

The encounter of different cultures, people and ideas is an important part of our world nowadays.

Artist Goran Cpajak from Yugoslavia demonstrated his understanding of "encounter" by creating two totally different forms of marble objects.

Although one of them is sharp and pointing, and the other flat and smooth, they join together in harmonious unity.

One could almost hear the conversation going on quietly between the two forms.

On the grassland beside the lake, a huge pair of "footprints" caught the attention of many viewers. Some naughty ones among them even tried to step on them. Actually we all leave countless footprints every day. And once they are left on the earth, they become history.

"The fact of walking is a way of measuring time and space," said Esther Pizarro from Spain, who created the work. "'Footprints' is a solidified gesture of walking, just as it happens when you take a walk on the beach. The only mark that stays is your footprint, which illustrates the presence of an absence. With the project, I want to make a topographical skin out of this landscape and create a viewpoint for the viewer.

"In my mind, history and memory are everywhere around us - in the cool springs, in the valley, over the lake, in the air, everywhere - and I have always been trying to find my own inner world by following the tracks of our founding fathers."

Xu's bronze telescope-like sculpture looks not only into the city in the distance over the water on the far side of the lake but, above all, scans over time and history above the top of the city.

Xu became excited when talking about the specific location of Gushan for the exhibition.

"In the beginning of the last century, the first academy of fine arts in China was established right on the island, attracting a number of artists from all over the nation to settle down on the island and exchange their ideas," Xu said.

"Today, it has the country's best seal-carving society. It is a well-cultured place. Whenever I come here, something always reminds me of past times with the surrounding hills, water and the ripples on the lake."

Like him, many other Chinese sculptors have shared the same feeling.

Either the huge group sculptures of Chinese traditional "hand woven buttons" or the familiar "courtyard" may remind visitors of those passing traditions and cultures that one day belonged to China of old.

But sculptors' way of staging traditions is abstract and modern. They used the enormous red-painted "Chinese buttons" to bring the lake and the earth together.

They stood on the immense top roof of a courtyard house with tiles and steel, leaving the memory of this familiar and memorable house of southern China both clear and vague.

"I do not want to give any definition to my work, as I hope my viewers will come up with their own thoughts by looking at it," said Yang Xiaohua from South China's Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. On the grass, Yang displays a white sculpture that features two huge hands pretending to hold something and keep it balanced.

The participating artists pointed out that sculptures have a much closer relationship with the public than many expect.

"Once a work is done and put in a public place, it is part of the environment around it," said New York artist Barbara Edelstein, on her second visit to the city. "Many people ask me why I put a pile of twisted pipes in the water. Well, to me they are my motivation and abstraction of the beautiful water I have seen in the West Lake.

"It is made of bronze which represents the industrial world we are living in, and it is twisted beautifully like the willow trees beside because we are also part of nature.

"In fact, it is my motivation to develop a viable vision for our cities by integrating our metropolitan surroundings with our natural landscape."

Edelstein said she loves Hangzhou, which, in her own words, is "a perfect combination of a city and nature."

She was also amazed at the high level of Chinese sculpture art on display in the exhibition.

"I am very much impressed by the diversity of expressing Chinese traditions in the show," she said, "and I have never encountered any other country in the world that treats art in such a serious yet passionate way like China. I am really moved."

Sun Zhenghua, an organizer of the exhibition and president of South China's Shenzhen Academy of Sculpture, said the exhibition is part of Chinese efforts to further develop sculpture art in China and to provide a venue for communicating their international counterparts.

According to Sun, another indoor exhibition in Gushan marking the same occasion includes 62 of the best sculptural works from academies of art throughout China.

"They represent the highest level in China, and we will continue indoor and outdoor exhibitions in the years ahead, making them the best of China and the world," Sun said.

Modern sculpture in China started approximately 70 years ago. Sun said there is still much for Chinese artists to do, especially in outdoor public art like city sculptures.

He said the displayed sculptures will be given to the municipal government of Hangzhou after the one-month show.

"By that time, they will become part of the city scenery and part of the treasures of all local residents, as well as travellers," said Sun.

(China Daily November 9, 2001)