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Oliver meet the press!
12th August 2005 Oliver's exhibit for the first time in China (Xiamen) in seaside hotel Conference Center Hotel, a prestigious venue overlooking the Taiwan Gulf.
7 articles published on the newspapers
Xiamen Daily, Taiwan strait, Dongnan Zaobao, strait newsˇ
When humanity shines, it shines so bright. (Article written by Humphrey: AIDS Relief Fund for China- San Francisco)
Concrete Surrealism was probably a term created by Olivier Defrance. His paintings spring from his imagination, combining with social messages. He created three paintings to be included in his personal exhibit in Xiamen. The goal was to call social attention to the AIDS epidemic in Henan. See: www.oliverandart.com
Olivier is a Frenchman living in Xiamen, China. Although I don't think he would call China home, he feels an extraordinary connection to the Henan children affected by AIDS. Two years ago, he watched a TV report on Henan while he was on a business trip to Sichuan. Without knowing much Chinese, he was able to decipher the visual content of the horrific conditions that the AIDS patients were living under. Right then and there, he said to himself that he had to do something.
He didn't really know how he could help. He is an outsider to the grassroots AIDS activist circle, and Xiamen isn't exactly a hotbed of AIDS activism. Also, he wasn't sure that the government would be able to channel his good will. As fate would have it, he connected with me via the internet a few months ago.
I was quite surprised to receive an email from a French surrealist painter in Xiamen. I was impressed by his dream of creating an art exhibit to raise donations for the AIDS orphans. This wouldn't be so easy. First of all, it is illegal to do public fund-raising in China. Secondly, there are no AIDS NGOs in Xiamen. Thirdly, he doesn't speak Chinese. So how could Olivier single-handedly create this exhibit, ˇ°Don't Let Them Go Through It Aloneˇ±? Finding a free public space, as it turned out, was obstacle #4. Most hotels (and even some journalists) were not willing to be involved because no money was offered. And yet, Olivier's exhibit finally found a home at the Seaside International Conference Center Hotel, a prestigious venue overlooking the Taiwan Gulf.
With the help of Chi Heng Foundation, the Beijing Loving Source Center and the AIDS Relief Fund for China, Olivier had a good turn out to meet the press at the opening. Zeng Jinyan, Lv Yanli, from Loving Source, and I noticed how little the Xiamen journalists knew about AIDS and Henan. We have been in Beijing too long to realize how out of the loop the rest of China can be. It took a foreigner to remind us Chinese of what has been happening in our own country.
