PTWB Serbia Interview: Liu Yang, A River From the East

    Recently, Liu Yang, the Secretary General of ISSA, who had been the participant of the International Sculpture Symposium at Aranđelovac gave an interview to the local media RTV Šumadija (PTBW).

    A transcript of the interview is as follows:

    Recently, the International Sculpture Symposium at Aranđelovac commenced in Bukovičke Park. This year’s participant is Liu Yang, a renowned Chinese sculptor, and also the secretary general of the International Sculpture Symposium Alliance (ISSA).

    When asked about what it felt like to be a part of the symposium, Liu said:

    “I’m happy to be here, and to be a part of the symposium’s incredible legacy. I know that the International Sculpture Symposium at Aranđelovac is among the oldest symposiums in the world with over sixty years of history and a collection of more than three hundred sculptures. To be invited to work here is an honor for it puts me on the same stage as the great sculptors in the past. I have worked in over seventy symposiums across thirty countries, which is rare for a Chinese sculptor. I want the world to pay attention to what we have to say.”

    “When I visited the park, I saw one sculpture by a Chinese artist from thirty years ago. And thirty year later, our sculpture circles back to this land, it reprises the inheritance while introducing something new and creative.”

    As a world renowned sculptor, Liu expressed his respect for Serbian sculptures:

    “As a student, I have seen Serbian (Former Yugoslavian) sculptures in books, and they had great influence over our own sense of style. And of course, I now know influential Serbian sculptors in person, such as the  Cpajak brothers. They have over two hundred sculptures all across the globe, this is an amazing achievement.”

    Liu planned to finish his sculpture in two weeks. The final piece would be three meters tall, and in coherence with his signature style.

Liu described his works, saying:

“The name of my sculpture is the Danube, the mother river of Serbia. For this series of sculptures, I name them after the local rivers. For example, the Nile, and the one I just finished recently, the Timis in Romania. Through sculpting, I try to depict the fluidity of the water with the hard stone. It’s a discussion about the relationship between the water and the shore, as well as the soft and the hard. Tracing back to the philosophies of ancient China, the forced carried by the fluidity of the water is one of the most resonant concepts.”

    Aranđelovac is famous for its marbles. Over the sixties-year history of the symposium, the marble have always been sourced locally.

Regarding the white marble of Aranđelovac, Liu was full of praises:

“There are really magnificent stones here. A few days ago we visited a remarkable church named Oplenac, which was constructed using a variety of marbles. I was also told that parts of the White House was also constructed using marbles from Aranđelovac. Fortunately, the sculptors here could imbue the old stones with new lives. Over a few weeks of conversation, the back and forth between the sculptor and the stone, there becomes the final piece—the product of an impeccable collaboration.”

    There once was a French sculptor who said, “I use sculpting to express myself, for I am not a poet”.

    Liu too had ideas about expression:

     “Comparing to other forms of art, sculpture is not about moments of impact but endurance. Sculptures from 5000 years ago remains today, and sculptures today will live to see 5000 years into the future. For a human being whose lifetime spans a few decades, 5000 years almost equates to an eternity.”

“It takes a long time to create a piece of sculpture. The creative process involves physical and psychological torment. Not only do you have to take responsibilities for your work now, you also need to be responsible for its future.”

As the secretary general of ISSA, Liu thought about sculpture this way:

“Every sculpture is more than what it’s made of, it’s also a bridge. In this sculpture park behind every piece of sculpture stands an extraordinary sculptor, behind that sculptor there is a nation, and behind that nation there is a long-standing history and civilization.”