If 2008 is the Year of Sport for China, this year should be called the Year of Art.

The second Beijing International Biennale is the largest and most influential art exhibition in China, and is due to open in late September. In addition, China will for the first time host the 16th General Assembly of the International Association of Art (IAA) during the same period.

Co-sponsored by the Chinese Artists Association (CAA) and the municipal government of Hefei, capital city of east China's Anhui Province, the event is to convene in two cities, Beijing and Hefei from September 21 to 28.

More than 100 delegates and observers from 53 countries are expected to attend the eight-day assembly. As the world's most prestigious painters, sculptors, and visual artists, the delegates will be able to have artistic exchanges 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, sculptures and other visual artworks of IAA artists will also be held in Hefei.

Headquartered in Paris, the IAA is a non-governmental organization run by and for visual artists working in every medium, style and tradition. It was founded in 1954 under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Artists from over 80 countries worldwide are represented by their national committees, making the assembly the largest international non-governmental association of artists. The primary goals of the IAA are to improve the working conditions and the rights and social circumstances of artists. There are six regional groupings of national committees, set up to foster closer association and better exchange.

Delegates from national committees of the IAA meet every three years at the IAA general assembly and international congress.

The CAA, which represents China, joined the IAA during its 15th general assembly held in Greece in 2002, at the same time winning the bid to host its 16th meeting.

"The IAA has uncommonly let a new member host its general assembly, which made me feel that artists from other countries are keen to know China, while Chinese artists want to know their counterparts as well," said Liu Dawei, vice president of CAA, at a press conference last month. "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 standing 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.

(China Daily September 6, 2005)