Chinese contemporary art is rising in quality and quantity, becoming a protagonist on the international artistic stage, leading Italian art critic Achille Bonito Oliva told Xinhua in an interview.

"Chinese artists have acquired today a good level of autonomy that allows them to be juxtaposed and compared to great Western masters," said Oliva.

One of the greatest art critics of the West, Oliva is the curator of an important contemporary art exhibition opening in April in Beijing, where he will be presenting a group of abstract artists in China.

"These artists distance themselves from main-stream Chinese materialistic and commercial mass art. In their works they express spirituality and individuality, stressing the value of subjectivity. They represent a 21st century Chinese emancipated and free art," he said.

Oliva has a great experience and knowledge of China's contemporary art. He was the first to introduce abroad the Chinese Avant-garde movement at Venice's arts exhibition in 1993 and since then has fostered contacts with China's art system.

According to Oliva, China's art is contributing to the enrichment of the international contemporary art scene and has conquered its own privileged place as a global protagonist.

For the Italian critic, such a contribution comes from the notion that art is universal and has no boundaries, there being a continuous "cultural identity exchange" between Western and Chinese art based on reciprocal respect and comprehension.

Oliva believes that "art is not a war but a co-existence of diversities. It pierces through the Great Wall in a positive way."

"In the past, Asian and Chinese art influenced the works and philosophy of great Western masters. Today, it's the other way round: Chinese artists are absorbing from the West in a perennial state of osmosis between the two cultures. This is the great value of art, which is a natural product of multiculturalism," he said.

Reciprocal interest is what drives the cultural exchange. "I was chosen to curate the upcoming exhibition in Beijing for the same reason why I'm interested in Chinese contemporary art myself."

Oliva went on saying that the perception abroad of Chinese contemporary art is also rising and improving.

"There's an increasing attention towards Chinese artists today, who are widely accepted and exposed in Western museums and galleries. Their works of art are now circulating around the world. "

According to the critic, such rising interest is due to the fact that "Chinese artists represent a new, diversified galaxy to explore but which at the same time has a great past imperial history."

The art market of Chinese masters is thus getting a hold globally thanks to a growing trend in multiculturalism. But it's not just a matter of attraction towards something exotic. "There's an increasing demand of Chinese art today especially by China's rising bourgeoisie, which pushes the market value of the works," noted Oliva.

"Differently from other countries, it's a patriotic and imperial attitude driving the Chinese rising middle class to collect local works of art, a trend which is set to boost in coming years."

Oliva praised as well the new art galleries in the northern area of Beijing city, which he recently visited.

"These places represent excellent meeting points for cultural exchanges between the Chinese art system and Western galleries. I was impressed by the environmental-friendly architecture of the buildings that show the deep sensibility of China's contemporary art."

The Italian critic has already directed several art expositions in China (both in Beijing and Shanghai) and six of his books have been translated in Chinese.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2010)