Event Preview丨Seeing Words as Faces: Zhejiang University Students' Chinese Character Creation Exhibitio
Seeing the words, seeing the person, ultimately seeing oneself.
Exhibition Introduction
Chinese characters represent the most ancient and enduring creation of Chinese civilization, crystallizing wisdom spanning millennia and carrying cultural memories that transcend borders. As the world's sole surviving indigenous writing system, it not only records language but also, through its unique structural and ideographic characteristics, forms a distinct mental discipline and cognitive paradigm distinct from phonetic scripts. It offers an indispensable Eastern perspective for understanding the relationship between language, writing, and the world. Moreover, through its visual, tactile, and experiential qualities, it embodies a uniquely Eastern aesthetic.
Exhibition Origin
This exhibition is jointly initiated by the “Chinese Characters and Chinese Culture” course team (Instructors: Zhang Liping, Gong Junji) and the “Vocabulary Teaching and Acquisition in Chinese as a Second Language” course team (Instructor: Gong Junji). It is jointly hosted by the School of Media and International Culture and the Zhejiang University Library, and co-organized by the Department of International Culture, the Institute of Social Thought and International Culture, and the Institute of Aesthetics and Critical Theory at Zhejiang University. The exhibition features works by 166 students from China and around the world.
The inspiration for this initiative stems from the “Drawing Chinese Characters” creative education project launched in France by renowned sinologist Professor Bernard Le Sain during the 2011 “France-China Year of Languages.” In 2025, this concept took root and flourished at Zhejiang University, giving birth to an experimental platform for free Chinese character creation. Students re-energize Chinese characters through brushes, paper, collage materials, and natural elements, composing images and colors. These creations manifest as three-dimensional arrangements, pictorial imagery, narrative carriers, or decorative forms. The inherent poetic, aesthetic, symbolic, combinatorial, and playful qualities of Chinese characters are reignited in the hands of this generation of creators, revealing the boundless possibilities of visual art rooted in the uniqueness of Chinese characters.
This exhibition is not merely a display of works, but rather the creation of an accessible 'dialogue space for Chinese characters'.
Here—
History and the present resonate in unison,
Creators and characters gaze intently at one another,
Diverse cultures meet within strokes,
The spirit of 'painting Chinese characters' between China and France echoes across the divide,
Conversations unfold between viewers and works, creators and others, and ultimately with the self.
This constitutes a practice in cross-cultural arts education, as well as a shared exploration of writing, perception, thought, and creativity.
We cordially invite you to pause and step into this aesthetic journey where "seeing the characters, seeing the person, ultimately seeing oneself".
—Thus is "Seeing Characters as Seeing the Person"!
