In early December, the English website JiangsuNow, operated by Xinhua Daily Media Group, received a digital sculpture submission from Damiano Bianco, a graduate student at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy. This work is a direct response to the "Global Youth Cyber Sculpture Program" recently launched in Athens and a testament to the new opportunities that the digital wave is bringing to artistic creation and civilizational dialogue.
In 2021, the renowned sculptor Wu Weishan's work Divine Encounter—Dialogue between Confucius and Socrates journeyed from China to be permanently installed at the foot of the Acropolis. Now in its fourth year, this "outbound" sculpture stands as a vivid footnote to mutual learning among civilizations. In the autumn of 2025, Shang Rong, Vice Dean of the School of Arts of Nanjing University, visited the site. In a deep conversation with Christos GIKAS, President of the Greek-Chinese Association of Cultural & Economic Relations, GIKAS reflected emotionally: "With the sculptures of these two great thinkers 'meeting' here, the civilizations of East and West they represent are also in continuous dialogue across past, present, and future."
Two weeks later, Chinese media and academia returned to Athens, bringing nine contemporary sculptures from Jiangsu. The "Sculpting Thoughts International Sculpture Exchange and Exhibition and the launch ceremony for the "Global Youth Cyber Sculpture Program" were held there. The program features a dedicated page on JiangsuNow's English website, calling for digital sculpture submissions from young artists worldwide. Upon its announcement, the initiative garnered widespread attention. Ms. Victoria ZYGOUROU, Director of the Municipal Art Gallery, expressed great admiration for China's progress in art digitization and stated she would actively promote the program.
Riccardo Caldura, Director of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, believes that without form and space, sculpture ceases to exist. Wu Weishan holds that while technology can hardly replace the spark of instant emotion, it can serve as an aid to creation. These dialogues themselves are a profound practice of civilizational exchange. Chiara Squarcina, Scientific Director of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (Venice Civic Museums Foundation), noted that from Marco Polo to the present day, dialogue has enriched all parties involved, and this must continue.
Literature and art facilitate communication and connect souls. Xinhua Daily Media Group has always been committed to building bridges for cultural exchange between China and the world. Its Jiangsu Now International Communication Center adheres to the core philosophy of "To communicate, To connect" and actively participates in global people-to-people exchanges. This year, the Group, in collaboration with academia, launched the "Sculpting Thoughts" international cultural exchange project. Through a documentary, an overseas exhibition, a digital co-creation program, and a series of cross-media communications, this dialogue is being conveyed globally.
For those with shared aspirations, no distance is too far; for innovators, no boundary of space or time is absolute. Through a series of multi-level, cross-media agenda-setting, the media project "Sculpting Thoughts" demonstrates the responsibility of mainstream media and promotes innovative practices in mutual learning among civilizations.
Now, digital works from young people across the globe are continuously flowing in. This dialogue that began in Athens is now extending simultaneously in reality and in the cloud, proving a timeless truth: civilizations, like water, will eventually converge; dialogue, like light, illuminates one another.
Producers / Shuang Chuanxue Hu Liansheng
Planner / Gu Leiming
Supervisors / Gao Po Chen Renyun
Coordinator / Shen Zhengrong
Creators / Cao Chen Chen Cheng
Project Support / Gu Xingxin
Art Editor / Liu Xiang
Presented by
JiangsuNow International Communication Center
