A Chinese refugee, who is rebuilding his life in Malta after decades of persecution, is sharing his signature brushwork with fellow islanders in two exhibitions.

Rhythm of the Orient IRhythm of the Orient I

Art helps John Zhang leave behind shadows of harassment and move ahead: “I often use bright colours to depict the island’s spirit because I feel this is the country that brought colour and hope back into my life and that of my family.

“The ordeal I went through did not discourage me but, rather, made me appreciate more the bright side of life, shown by the hospitable Maltese islands,” he told this newspaper.

Born in Shanghai in 1955, six years after the Communist Party came to power, Mr Zhang was threatened for his Christian activism and pursuit of art.

Marsaxlokk. Right: Rhythm of the Orient II.Marsaxlokk. Right: Rhythm of the Orient II.

Azure WindowAzure Window

At a young age, he was one of the few candidates to qualify for enrolment into the prestigious China Academy of Art but he was disqualified by the party secretary of the steel factory he worked for because of his “westernised taste in art”.

Instead, he took private lessons from prominent Chinese painters and eventually opened his own gallery but persecution followed him as he grew older and had his own family. The last straw was a car chase that left family members badly injured. They realised the only way to survive was to flee and move to a place where they would be allowed to practise their Christian faith.

VallettaValletta

Mr Zhang arrived here in 2004 together with his wife and daughter and they gradually started building back their life.

“As a philosophy of life in general, there is no light without shadow and this is why I stress the importance of contrast and harmony in my art,” Mr Zhang said.

Earlier this summer, he joined the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Jean de la Valette Foundation for his first fund-raising event when he turned unwanted antiques into bright artwork.

This month, he is exhibiting some of his recent paintings at the Cavalieri Art Hotel, St Julian’s. On August 25 and 26 his works will also be on display at Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar.

For more information go to http://tinyurl.com/gr9q4ru.

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