Child, oil on canvas with acrylic brush, Zhang Tingqun

The poetic charm of the East and a hint of ancient Oriental philosophies will this month take centre stage at the Valletta International Visual Arts festival with two exhibitions by Chinese artists.

Now staging its fourth edition, the VIVA festival is a platform for Maltese and international visual arts practitioners which also encourages public participation.

One of the exhibitions, called The Tao of Nature, illustrates what its curator describes as “modelling through flowing water”. Yang Zhiling’s work embodies the poetry of the East while simultaneously subverting the Chinese ink painting tradition, according to curator Liang Shuhan.

Meanwhile, Zhang Tingqun’s exhibition The Shape of Volition is split in two: the first part includes a long cloth scroll, hung at the top of a corridor so as to break the field boundaries between artefacts and easel paintings while accentuating the Oriental ethos of the atmosphere it seeks to create. This charters the way to the main part of the exhibition, composed of 16 paintings.

Also curated by Liang Shuhan, The Shape of Volition will be on display at the China Cultural Centre in Valletta until May 15, and the public can visit from Monday to Friday from 9am to 12.30pm and from 2.30pm to 5pm.

The Tao of Nature, Yang Zhiling

The Tao of Nature by Yang Zhiling will be exhibited at Space A, St James Cavalier, Castille Place, Valletta.

The opening hours are Mondays from 9am until 5pm, Tuesdays to Fridays until 9pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am till 9pm.

Organised by Fondazzjoni Kreattività and the Viva festival in collaboration with the China Cultural Centre in Malta, entrance to the two exhibitions is free.

Oil on canvas with acrylic brush, Zhang Tingqun from The Shape of Volition

The Tao of Nature, Yang Zhiling

Oil on canvas with acrylic brush, Zhang Tingqun