The Confucius Institute at Rhodes University launched China Week yesterday with a range of exciting events lined up such as a photographic exhibition, fine arts workshops and a colloquium on China/Africa Economic Relations.
The Confucius Institute at Rhodes University launched China Week yesterday with a range of exciting events lined up such as a photographic exhibition, fine arts workshops and a colloquium on China/Africa Economic Relations.
The photo exhibition, which opened yesterday, is a product of the exchange programme between Rhodes and Jinan University in the Guangdong province in China. Two students from Jinan, Luo Fang and Qiu, visited South Africa in July and spent 10 days touring the Eastern Cape. They were hosted by two Rhodes photojournalism students Sophie Marcus and Sarah Schäfer. This September Marcus and Schäfer in turn spent time in China hosted by Fang and Xiangminin, getting to know life in Guangdong. Each of the four students have chosen 20 photographs for the exhibition, showing what they found most interesting in the country they visited. The exhibition will be up all week in the foyer of the African Media Matrix building on Rhodes campus.
Fifteen students of the Confucius Institute went on a three-week whirlwind cultural and study tour of China during the July vacation. They travelled through Beijing and Hong Kong, experiencing all of what China has to offer. These students will share their own experiences of China at a presentation that will take place this afternoon at the Barratt Lecture Theatre 3 from 2.30pm.
Luo Xiaoying, Zhu Guiming and Wang Jinshan from Jinan University will be giving a presentation on Chinese characters, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting. The presentations start this evening until Thursday evening at 5.30pm in the Eden Grove foyer. Dr Yoon Jung Park from the University of Johannesburg will be giving a public lecture entitled “Faces of China in South Africa: New Chinese Migration to the Southern tip of Africa, 1970s to the present.” This lecture attempts to break down the predominant stereotype that all Chinese in South Africa are the same. In his talk he will describe the various waves of Chinese migration and attempt to draw some distinctions between groups based on places of origin, language, class and length of stay in the country.
Lastly there will be a colloquium on China-Africa Economic Relations that will see speakers from all over the country and China speaking on China’s economic relationship with the continent. There will be two talks every day until Friday at 1.15pm and at 5.15pm in Eden Grove Seminar Room 1.
