The exhibition poster
To celebrate the 2023 International Chinese Language Day, "The Way of Type - Modernisation of Chinese Typography" was opened at the Welgemeend Function and Conference Venue in Cape Town, South Africa on April 19, in the afternoon, the local time. The exhibition was guided by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration, hosted by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, the ChinesePlus, the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the China Center for International Communication Development, and the Chinese Language Teachers Association South Africa, co-hosted by the Chinese Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation, the Chinese Bridge Club in Cape Town, and the Synclabs Arts & Culture Centre, and organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts Co-lnnovation Center for Art Creation and Research on Silk Road, with the media support of Independent Media (Pty) Ltd. The exhibition with a total of 151 pieces/sets of works on display gives a full picture of the modern development process of Chinese font design. Its aim is to promote international cultural exchanges with scripts as the carrier, enhance academic cohesion, and at the same time, tell Chin’s stories well and spread the voice of China through the form of art exhibition, so as to stimulate the interest and enthusiasm of people from all over the world to learn Chinese language.
Interaction at the Opening Ceremony of the Exhibition
Fan Di’an, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and President of the China Artists Association acted as the academic chair of the exhibition and the curators are Yue Jieqiong, Deputy Director of the Co-lnnovation Center for Art Creation and Research on Silk Road at CAFA, and Liu Zhao, Associate Professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Director of the Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI). This exhibition showcases the development process of font design at multiple levels by gathering materials, literature, archives, and material objects collected by museums and libraries and relevant experts at home and abroad through various forms such as publications, display boards, posters, and multimedia.
The Exhibition
Lv Pinjing, Vice President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Yue Jieqiong, Curator and Deputy Director the Co-lnnovation Center for Art Creation and Research on Silk Road at CAFA, congratulated the opening of the exhibition via video. Tang Chang'an, Deputy Consul-General of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Cape Town, Ma Yue, Chairman of the Chinese Language Teachers Association South Africa and the Director of the Chinese Language Program at the University of Cape Town, Wu Changhong, Executive Chairman of the Chinese Language Teachers Association South Africa, Zeng Liren, Dean of the Confucius Institute for Chinese Medicine at the University of Western Cape for the Chinese side, and Ferdi B Dick, a local South African artist and designer, attended the opening ceremony.
The Exhibition
Lv Pinjing first delivered a speech on behalf of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He stated that the development of contemporary Chinese font design discipline is closely related to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the academy will take this exhibition as an opportunity to further promote the development of Chinese type design in the digital era, make more contributions to enhancing the communication and influence of Chinese culture, and design richer creative works. He sincerely hopes that the two countries will take this exhibition as a link and build a bridge for cultural exchange, mutual learning, and common development.
Curator Yue Jieqiong mentioned that this exhibition not only has its significance as a "general history", but also looks into the world history by acknowledging the mutual learning between Eastern and Western technologies and ideas. She expects the South African friends can find this exhibition informative and rewarding while appreciating the rich font design works. She also hopes that Chinese calligraphy can input energy to font design and inspire the flourishing future of type design in the era of rapid development of artificial intelligence.
The Exhibition
Tang Chang'an, congratulated the holding of this exhibition on behalf of the Consul-General You Wenze and the Consulate General in Cape Town, and wished the exhibition a complete success. This year is an important year for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa, he said. And the Chinese Language Teachers Association and the "Chinese Bridge" Club in Cape Town, as a major cultural interaction mechanism of the China and South Africa, have played a vital role in spreading Chinese culture and promoting exchanges and friendship between the two countries. He hopes that China and South Africa will deepen cooperation and communication in the future and the friendship between the two countries will last forever.
Zeng Liren said in his speech that the exhibition records the evolution history of Chinese printing and the endeavor of generations of people in the printing industry to improve the form and function of Chinese language. He hopes that visitors will enjoy the exhibition and gain a better understanding of Chinese language, culture, and aesthetics.
Tang Chang'an, Deputy Consul-General of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Cape Town, delivering a speech
In 2022, the exhibition toured in Anyang, Nanjing, Ningbo, Beijing, Huzhou, and Qingdao and was well-received by the society. The exhibition was also held at the University of Reading, UK on April 17, 2023, and will be held in Gwangju, South Korea on April 28. The exhibition organically combines the iterative upgrading of hardware technology, standardization of Chinese typeface, and artistic development of font design. By taking these three clues, it uncovers the key nodes of Chinese character development, and fills the old gap of Chinese printing technology in the history, and has formed a relatively mature exhibition system. The exhibition is expected to spread Chinese characters and convey the rich connotations of Chinese culture in a more in-depth and effective manner.
To serve the central point of "people from all over the world to learn Chinese and understand China", the overseas exhibition tour strives to explain the complicated subject matter in simple terms. It is to allow people in other countries to know Chinese characters and experience the charm of Chinese characters in a more relaxed, interactive and interesting atmosphere with the art exhibition as the medium via visual images, so as to further stimulate their interest in understanding the profound Chinese culture and learning Chinese language. It also aims to enhance the international communication of Chinese language and culture, showcase the admirable and lovely contemporary China to the world, and promote the construction of a community with a shared future.
Symposiums were also held concurrently with the exhibition. Experts in the fields of Chinese characters and arts from China and South Africa carried out exchanges and discussions on the characteristics of Chinese language, the commonalities between Chinese pictographs and South African rock paintings, the promotion and protection of contemporary languages and characters, and the modernisation process of languages.
Tang Chang'an, Deputy Consul-General of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Cape Town and Ma Yue, Chairman of the Chinese Language Teachers Association of South African viewing the Exhibition
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