Guests attending the opening ceremony of the "Harmony: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition" look at a painting drew by Sandy Song, a 12th grader and painter who drew inspiration from her grandparents living in China. [Photo by Yaxin Liu]

The opening ceremony of the week-long "Harmony: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Exhibition" was held at Vancouver's Chinese Cultural Centre Museum on June 6.

Nearly 100 guests, including some famous names in local circles of Chinese brush painting and calligraphy, attended. Harry Yu, president of the Richmond Chinese Calligraphy and Painting Club, and William Chen, former president and a current committee member of the club were among some of the established Chinese-Canadian artists who brought their masterpieces to the exhibition.

Some of Vancouver's prominent political and cultural figures, such as Burnaby North MLA Richard Lee and renowned sinologist Jan Walls, were also at the occasion to support the promotion of traditional Chinese fine arts.

A total of 66 artworks contributed by more than 40 artists were put on display at the exhibition, ranging from Chinese calligraphy, ink landscape paintings, still lifes and oils. The calligraphy explores various artistic styles, including oracle-bone script, clerical, regular, running and cursive scripts.

The Harmony exhibition is presented by the Richmond Chinese Calligraphy & Painting Club, a resident art group founded in 1979. The artist organization aims to promote Chinese culture and art through various events, exhibitions, classes and workshops.

The club has done a lot of work in nurturing the younger generation of artists. "The club is now collaborating with the Richmond Public Library to hold regular Chinese calligraphy and painting classes for the residents," Harry Yu told China Daily.

"Young children are able to learn about cultures quickly, and the process of cultural transmission is indeed beneficial for them — once they start to learn painting and calligraphy, they will eventually read more about Chinese traditional culture too," Yu said.

"A lot of the young Chinese Canadians who grew up here may know little about Chinese traditional arts, and I believe this exhibition can serve as a great opportunity for them to learn about their cultural roots and traditions," William Chen told China Daily.

"I started learning [Chinese brush painting] at around 7 years old, and I've taken classes ever since," said Wendy Song, a 12th grader whose painting of a tiger was displayed at the exhibition. "This is a nice event and I'd really like to know more about each of the writers and painters here, especially the inspiration behind their works."

"The purpose of [the exhibition] is to share the beauty of Chinese culture with as many people as possible — Canadians, Chinese, children and seniors, whoever is interested in getting to know it," Yu added.

The exhibition lasts from June 6 to 12.