Children paint their visions of the world
The SCO Children’s Art Exhibition opened on Friday, with more than 200 paintings by children from different Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries.
As part of the 24th Shanghai Art Fair, the exhibition will run through Sunday, while visitors can continue to enjoy the works online at www.sco-marathon.com/html/page-19678.html.
“I don’t usually paint, but I did this one because I was thinking about how to talk to my hundreds of pets,” 10-year-old Feng Zile told Shanghai Daily as she pointed to her painting.
Titled “A Machine to Translate among Human, Animals and Plants,” the painting shows how the fifth-grader imagines elephants, fishes, trees, flowers, birds and human beings talking to each other through a translating machine.
"Look at the fish on the left corner, that's fish from Thailand," she explained. "I used to travel there a lot, and now because of the pandemic, I can't go, so I put it in my painting."
To attend the opening, she traveled from her home in Yunnan Province, where her parents kept rabbits, turtles and dozens of different kinds of fish as pets for Feng and her sisters.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we can all talk to each other?” she said.
"A Machine to Translate among Human, Animals and Plants" by Feng Zile, 10
Other children’s works include a blue Earth wearing a mask, a hand crushing the coronavirus and living in harmony with nature. Children aged between 5 and 16 picked up brushes to paint their imaginations and wishes.
“It is noteworthy that children’s works reflect peace, friendship, joint development, striving for good, as well as the essence of cooperation and mutual support of the SCO states during the coronavirus pandemic," Vladimir Norov, SCO’s secretary-general, told visitors at the opening after touring the exhibition and talking to some of the children at the fair.
“All these concept and values form the basis of the ‘Shanghai Spirit,’ which embodies mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, mutual consultation, respect for cultural diversity and striving for joint development.”
The exhibition is one of a series of cultural and sports events to be held to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the SCO next year. Upcoming events include the SCO Kunming Marathon to feature a combination of online and physical activities, photo exhibitions, yoga and tai chi events.
An installation made by children's paintings from different SCO countries
