Depicting Africa

　　How did you come to participate in this project?

　　I was informed about the project in February 2011 whenthe China Artists Association organized a competitivebidding among artists. There were 10 designs that thejudges looked at, and our design won by a unanimousvote. After that, it still had to get official approval fromthe African Union and China. It took me three monthsto design and make the sculpture with my postgraduatestudents. During that time, many people contributed.I invited art masters and professors in the field to becounselors for our team. Many of them climbed on laddersto make adjustments to the piece with their ownhands.

　　What’s important in making a design for theAfrican Union’s new building?

　　Art made for public environments is different from thatmade for display in a museum. The latter expressespersonal emotion, but the former has to be scrutinizedthrough a public lens. So it’s importantto put myself in others’ shoes. It’snot about me, as an artist, expressingmyself, but about thinking as an Africanwould and about what kind of voice theywant the world to hear. I believe that’sthe first thing I had to figure out in thisproject. It’s an African perspective ratherthan a Chinese one that I had to apply toillustrate African culture.

　　What’s your understanding ofAfrican culture?

　　I get to know about Africa and its historythrough television and video materials.

　　Technically, it would have been better if Icould have had more time to experiencereal life in Africa, though I did spendsome time traveling in Africa before.

　　My nine years of living in Europe, whereI was exposed to a lot of African art,also helped me.

　　The continent is home to the world’sgreatest civilization, and it now still hasfunctioning tribes. I read a lot of materialsto better understand Africa’s variouscultures, abundant species and differentpeoples. The African Union is just likethe continent’s United Nations. It is anautonomous organization free of influencefrom other foreign politics, andit aims to unite African nations asthey step onto the internationalstage.

　　How did you expressthese ideas in yourwork?

　　At the center of the pieceis the logo of African Union,symbolizing unity andsolidarity. The idea of thegolden ring comes from anancient African tradition.

　　To become the chief of atribe, a man had to kill alion with his bare hands toprove his ability and power.

　　Then he cut off the lion’shead and made a crown out of its hair. When the newchief danced in the ceremony celebrating his achievement,the lion’s hair was waved in the air. Africans liketo be compared to lions, a symbol of strength and thesacred power of nature. At the same time, the goldenring also represents the beams of the sun, which symbolizepeace and hope.

　　As the birthplace of the earliest human civilization,Africa is home to colorful cultures, beautiful landscapeand species. I displayed these elements on thepiece’s jade background with a big embossed picture.

　　What was the difficult part of creating thispiece?

　　Given its weight, the jade board could be no thickerthan 7 cm, which means I could only emboss 4 cmdeep. The board was too thin to make many layers. Ithink that the piece features the most difficult embossingwork ever done in China. Some experts suggestedthat I give up and instead do line cutting, but thatwasn’t what I wanted.

　　In addition, it was important to analyze the environment,which is another thing that differentiatesartists creating public architectural art from others.There is a corridor on the second floor, so when peopleenter the lobby they can only see the lower half of thepiece. But as they walk forward, they can see the wholepicture. Those on the corridor can only see the top half.In this case, I had to consider different visual perspectives.

　　Meanwhile, the selected material had to matchthe architecture style, and environment protection andsafety were all taken into consideration.