The 16th General Assembly of the International Association of Art, or IAA, is to convene in Beijing and Hefei, capital of central China's Anhui Province from September 21 to 28. This is the first time the Assembly will be held in China.

During the upcoming Assembly, Chinese and the world's most prestigious painters, sculptors, and visual artists will have an artistic exchange on world art theory and its future development. They will also rekindle the work of the previous conference, and elect the new administration of the IAA.

A special exhibition featuring paintings, sculpture and other visual art works of IAA artists will also be held in Hefei.

Headquartered in Paris, the IAA is a non-governmental organization consisting of only the most prestigious arts organizations with the highest artistic level from over 120 member countries around the world. It was set up in 1954 by UNESCO and was nicknamed the United Nations of the art world. China joined the organization in 2002 during the 15th General Assembly of the organization held in Greece.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Liu Dawei, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Artists Association said while China's accession to the IAA has given Chinese artists a voice in the international art world, hosting this upcoming assembly will further uplift China's stand and influence in the international art scene. He believes the assembly also presents an opportunity for China to showcase its contemporary art development to the world and offers a chance of cooperation with international artists in the area.  

(CRI.com August 4, 2005)