On Oct. 18, a photography exhibition highlighting classical gardens of Suzhou kicked off in Venice, Italy. Its opening ceremony was held online simultaneously at the East Garden of Suzhou and at Ca’Foscari University of Venice. Liu Kan, Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Milan, Shi Jiahong, Vice Mayor of Suzhou, and Massimiliano De Martin, Vice Mayor of Venice, attended the ceremony and delivered speeches.
The exhibition was co-organized by the Suzhou Gardening and Greening Bureau, the Foreign Affairs Office of Suzhou Municipal People’s Government, Ca’Foscari University of Venice and Confucius Institute at Ca’Foscari University of Venice, under the guidance of the Suzhou Municipal People’s Government and the Venice Municipal Government.
When addressing the ceremony, Liu Kan noted that the exhibition offers Italian people an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of Suzhou gardens and feel the charm of traditional Chinese culture.
In his speech, Shi Jiahong pointed out that over the past 42 years, Suzhou and Venice have made fruitful efforts to strengthen cooperation in such fields as culture, tourism, economy and trade, sports and higher education. He expressed hope that the two cities would take this exhibition as an opportunity to promote exchanges and cooperation in the protection and inheritance of classical gardens and ancient cities, so as to further promote sister-city relations and contribute to the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage.
Massimiliano De Martin said that Suzhou and Venice have witnessed increasingly deepened cooperation over the past decades. He hoped that the two cities would enhance exchanges in such fields as the development of urban green space.
The year 2022 marks the China-Italy Year of Culture and Tourism which features a great number of cultural and tourism activities in both countries. The exhibition features 30 photographs showing the beauty of Suzhou gardens. It will last until Oct. 28. And then, the photos will be exhibited in other European countries including France, Belgium, Denmark, and Romania.
