Exhibition of Chinese farmers' paintings opens at UN headquarters

UNITED NATIONS, May 21  -- With an exhibition featuring farmers' paintings, Chinese folk artists made their debut on Wednesday at United Nations headquarters in New York.

Entitled "The World's Sentiments, the Chinese Dream," the exhibition shows 108 folk paintings selected from regions across China.

Created by rural artists with little or no professional training, these works offer vibrant and personal interpretations of country life in China, with an emphasis on local customs, festivals, children, and farm work.

"This exhibition not only showcases the talent and charisma of contemporary Chinese farmers, but also tells the world their Chinese dream and love to the world," said Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, in his remarks at the opening ceremony.

Wang also conveyed the congratulations of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is now on a visit to China, on the opening of this exhibition.

"China is a developing country with an agricultural population of over 600 million," Wang said. "Chinese farmer artists use their painting brushes to eulogize the new era of comprehensive reforms, and to celebrate greater prosperity of their living."

Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information of the UN, said the paintings in this exhibition catch the breath and the diversity of human existence.

Chinese farmers' paintings represent the long-recognized genre in Chinese art. They reflect nature and rhythms of daily life, harmony and peaceful coexistence. United Nations stands for those very values, he said.

"This exhibition is particularly memorable because the artists themselves are also farmers," he said. "It also provides an opportunity for us to better understand each other, and work more closely together towards peace, sustainable development and prosperity."

The three-day event is sponsored partly by the Chinese Farmers Calligraphy and Painting Research Association, which was founded by Geng Biao, China's well-known statesman, military strategist and diplomat