2009 Hands Across Pacific Show Held

The 2009 Hands Across the Pacific Show co-sponsored by the Canadian International Cultural Exchanges (CICEX) and Hunan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (HPPAFFC) was held respectively in the Tower Hall of Tokyo， Japan from July 2 to 7 and in the Hunan Provincial Museum from August 1 to 5. Jing Dunquan， Vice President of the CPAFFC; Xiong Qingquan， former Secretary of the Hunan Provincial CPC Committee; Chen Zhaoxiong， Deputy Governor of Hunan; Xiao Xiangqing， Director General of the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial Government;Keiji Ide， Deputy Director General of Intelligence and Analysis Service of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Rentsendoo Jigjid， Mongolian Ambassador to Japan; and Hoisai Wu-Brandt， President of the CICEX， respectively attended the opening ceremony of the exhibitions held in Japan and Hunan and cut the ribbon.

The Hands Across the Pacific Show initiated by the CICEX was first held in Canada and Japan in 2000. From 2004， CICEX began to cooperate with the CPAFFC， extending the show from bilateral exchanges to multilateral nongovernment cultural exchanges. In the past few years， with the concerted efforts of the two sides， the show has become even better with enlarged scale and increasing influence and renown.

At this show， over 170 pieces of work including traditional Chinese paintings， oil paintings， gouache paintings， water color paintings， handicrafts and device art made by artists from China， Japan， Canada， ROK and Mongolia were displayed. The show not only included for the first time some Mongolian artists’ paintings with distinct and unique features， but also artworks made with new materials and by new techniques adding a previously-absent element in contemporary art， attracting a large crowd of visitors. Many Chinese and Japanese art lovers showed great interest in the show， saying that it gave them a rare artistic treat.

The local government of Edogawa Ward in Tokyo attached great importance to the show. Mayor Masami Tada specially sent a message of congratulations， and Deputy Mayor Kenji Takazaki， on behalf of the mayor and the city government， attended the opening ceremony and spoke.

The works from the Chinese side at the show were collected with the assistance of the HPPAFFC. The show got positive response and cooperation from the artists of Hunan Province.

The Hands Across the Pacific Show that has already been successfully held for eight times in China， Japan， Canada and ROK has played an active role in enhancing understanding among the people of various countries and strengthening exchanges and cooperation between artists.