Dubbed as "the Olympics of Art", the second International Art Biennale will be held from September 20 from October 20, organizers announced Monday.

The 30-day event will attract more than 450 artists from both home and overseas, including such big names as John Bellanyn and Allen Jones, and bring more than 500 works, mainly paintings and sculptures, said Jing Shangyi, chairman of the Chinese Fine Artists Association, also chief curator of the exhibition.

Themed "Contemporary Art with Humanistic Concerns", the art exhibition, which is scheduled to be held once every two years, has put its eyes on human social life and the public this time.

Jing said, "We will exert more efforts to make contemporary art accessible to the general public, express pursuit for world peace and promote the development of humankind as well as the harmony between the human beings and nature."

An international jury consisting of Chinese and foreign artists will assign awards for Best Work, Excellent Work, Lifetime Honorable Mention and Excellent Chinese Young Artist's Work before the opening of the exhibition, said Jing.

At the sponsorship of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Beijing municipal government and the Chinese Artists Association, the art exhibition aims to show the opening-up of China, which boasts a long-lived ancient civilization, Jing acknowledged.

"We also want to show visitors the glamour of international easel art and promote the multicultural development of the world," said Jing.

The first one-month Beijing International Art Biennale, held in 2003, showed a total of 577 works from 45 countries, and drew more than 60,000 visitors, according to the organizers.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2005)