An inauguration ceremony for the Academician Lyubavin Workstation was hosted at Xi'an University on the morning of May 23, kicking off high-level collaborative ties between the university and Russia’s prestigious fine arts academy. Wang Yuxuan, CPC Party Secretary of Xi'an University, held a meeting with the Russian academician ahead of the ceremony. University President Chen Gang delivered a keynote speech, while Vice President Gong Jiechang chaired the event. Sino-Russian distinguished guests, university management, faculty and students from the School of Fine Arts and Design, as well as industry specialists from sister institutions attended the milestone unveiling.
In his address, President Chen Gang reviewed the university’s schooling history and fruitful outcomes in international exchanges. He remarked that the establishment of the academician workstation is a landmark move to elevate art disciplines and advance internationalized education at Xi'an University. The university will pool high-quality resources to develop the workstation into a benchmark platform for Sino-Russian artistic cooperation and high-caliber art talent cultivation, boosting arts and cultural communication under the Silk Road Initiative.
Academician Anatoly Alexandrovich Lyubavin is Rector of Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, renowned oil painter and distinguished art educator, also entitled Merited Artist and People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, the latter conferred by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2014. His masterpieces are permanently collected by top art museums worldwide. A zealous promoter of China-Russia art communication, he paid a field visit to Guanzhong Academy during his campus tour and spoke highly of the profundity and inclusiveness of traditional Chinese culture embodied in the university’s historic heritage. Ranking among the world’s leading art academies, Surikov Institute will carry out all-round cooperation with Xi'an University via the workstation covering disciplinary dialogue, joint artistic creation and cooperative student training to realize integrated development of Chinese and Russian art education.
Arriving in Xi’an on May 21 for academic exchanges, Academician Lyubavin toured campus landmarks and delivered three exclusive master classes open to teachers and students. Experts from nearby universities also joined the academic seminars, greatly broadening the international vision of Xi'an University’s art majors and lifting the academic standing of its fine arts discipline.
The launch of the workstation marks a new era of substantial, long-term and in-depth cooperation between Xi'an University and Surikov Institute, injecting robust vitality into bilateral artistic exchanges and cultural mutual learning between China and Russia.
