Feature: Traditional Chinese ink wash paintings on show in Cairo

Egypt's capital Cairo hosted a four-day art exhibition that features abstract ink wash works of six Chinese contemporary female artists, an event meant to intensify cultural ties between the two nations.

As part of the 2016 China-Egypt Culture Year jointly launched by Egypt and China to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, the exhibition is a bid to intensify their already strong cultural ties.

The artists showcased 30 paintings at the "Elegance of Ink" exhibition, which kicked off at Ahmed Shawki Museum in Cairo on Tuesday and has attracted nearly 100 visitors in its opening ceremony.

In their works, the artists used original Chinese paper that is known to be very absorbent and can keep the brightness of ink and colors for some 1,000 years.

Xu Qiping, who holds a master's degree from the Faculty of Traditional Art at Nanjing Academy of Arts, participated in the exhibition with five paintings.

"My works focus on Africa and the protection of wild animals," Xu told Xinhua. "My paintings are a mixture of traditional Chinese art and the original African surrealism."

Artist Xie Li Fang, member of the Chinese Artists Association and Chairman of the Artists Association of Hunan Province, presented five paintings titled, people and animals are happy, people are in love, the woman next to Xiang River, Fish and women and the world of the girl.

"I believe there is a similarity between traditional Chinese and ancient Egyptian arts," Xie said.

She added that the expression both civilizations used was surreal style approach based on the ancient Egyptians and Chinese research on the subjects of the relationship between people and nature as well as eternity.

"I have long years searching for the second half of my artistic life and I have finally found it in Egypt," she revealed.

Hua Xin, counselor of the Chinese embassy in Egypt and representative of the organizer, told Xinhua "art knows no boundary."

"This is the first time we hold the painting exhibition for Chinese female artists," he said, adding that "as the organizer and promoter of bilateral cultural relations, we will try to do more about cultural exchange and activities."

The works of the Chinese artists were highly valued by the exhibition visitors who expressed appreciation for their world-class art.

"The exhibition conveys the Chinese culture and visions to the Egyptian side, especially as artists come from different Chinese provinces, and each passes on her experience," Khaled Soror, head of Fine Arts Department at Egypt's Ministry of Culture, told Xinhua.

He pointed out that this diversity has enriched the exhibition with different artistic trends, especially the methods of painting, adding that the Chinese artists are very distinguished.

For his part, Egyptian artist Mohamed Abla said the traditional artistic values of Chinese art, raw materials, colors and keenness to keep pace with contemporary art are the most important characteristics of works in the exhibition.

"They maintained the equation of tradition and modernity," he told Xinhua. Endit