For Immediate Release

Prominent Chinese Christian Artist to Visit Princeton Seminary April 5

Princeton, NJ, March 10, 2006– He Qi, arguably China’s most internationally sought after contemporary Christian artist, will discuss his art and his spiritual journey during and after the Cultural Revolution in China during a visit to Princeton Theological Seminary on Wednesday, April 5, at 6:15 p.m. His presentation, titled “Look toward the Heavens—The Art World of He Qi,” will include slides of his work, and will take place at the Center of Continuing Education’s Erdman Art Gallery, 20 Library Place in Princeton. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. prior to his presentation.

He Qi is a professor at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in China and a tutor for master students at Nanjing University, as well as a member of the China Art Association and the Asian Christian Art Association. He has been creating modern Chinese Christian art since 1983. His brilliant, colorful, and highly contemporary paintings emerge from Chinese contexts and blend Chinese folk customs and traditional Chinese painting techniques with the western art of the Middle and Modern Ages. He hopes to help change what he calls the “foreign image” of Christianity in China by using artistic language, and, at the same time, to supplement Chinese art the way that Buddhist art did in ancient times.

Iain Torrance, president of Princeton Seminary, had the opportunity to meet Qi while visiting Nanjing as moderator of the Church of Scotland in 2004. The visit left a considerable impression on him. “I think that he and his work are remarkable,” said Torrance. “I was delighted to meet him, and his images have stayed in my head ever since.” 

Qi was the first among mainland Chinese to earn a Ph.D. in religious art after the Cultural Revolution, studying at the Hamburg Art Institute in Germany. He has exhibited in Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, as well as in mainland China. He is presently artist-in-residence at the Overseas Ministry Center in New Haven, Connecticut.

For more information about the presentation, please contact the Center of Continuing Education at 609.497.7990.