On August 8, 2008, the Games of the XXIX Olympiad will be unveiled to the world and a feast of Olympic artwork will begin.

Today, Olympic Fine Arts 2008, patronized by the International Olympic Committee; organized by the Chinese Olympic Committee; supported by the Ministry of Culture, P. R. China and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad is formally initiated in the Supreme Ancestral Temple of the Forbidden City.

Promoting The “People’s Olympics” & Olympic Civilization

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games creatively put forward three concepts of "Green Olympics, Hi-tech Olympics, People’s Olympics".

"People's Olympics" fully integrates the Olympic spirit and China’s magnificent 5,000-year cultural essence, displaying an Olympic Games with the humanistic theme of "harmony, communication and development", to promote goals of world peace, friendship and development.

As a part of the serial activities of 2008 Olympic Cultural Festival, Olympic Fine Arts 2008 will enrich the concept of “People’s Olympics"; promote the exchange of arts and cultural cooperation between China and other nations and extend the spirit of Olympic Sport and Art Contest which was organized by the International Olympic Committee in Sydney and Athens.

New Logo Blends Sports, Culture & The Arts

From ancient Greece, sports and arts are of the same origin and is the essence of Olympic civilization. Sports and the arts are mutually blended and promote each other. They were never interrupted in the process of the Olympic development, in this way they realized the rich and grand Olympic culture.

Based on the modern Olympic motto of "faster, higher, stronger", Olympic Fine Arts 2008 put forward its own slogan: "Art makes the Olympics more beautiful!"

It pays tribute to the ancient Olympics and it is hoped that through this event, the modern Olympic Movement can be continually rejuvenated and promoted.

Olympic Fine Arts 2008 also complements the Olympic culture with the essence of Chinese culture and highlights the Beijing Olympic Games’ unique historical value and humanistic value.

At the ceremony, the organizing committee also released the artistic logo of the event which integrates the beauty of architecture (the Temple of Heaven); the beauty of sport (a running human being) and the beauty of the Chinese calligraphy with unique charm. Use of a variety of colors, is a symbol of the integration of multi-culture of the world and also demonstrates a lively combination of sports, culture and the arts.

Sports & Olympism; China • World

The creative theme of Olympic Fine Arts 2008 is "Sports and the Olympism" and "China • World.” The Organizing Committee will invite famous artists from the host counties (cities) and more than 80 international countries and regions through the International Olympic Committee and Chinese embassies;

At the same time, famous Chinese artists at home and worldwide as well as domestic professional artists will be invited to create singular works to participate in the exhibition. Works will include five categories of Chinese paintings, oil paintings, prints, sculptures and digital art. The collection of works was launched at the ceremony and the works will be ultimately judged by teams formed by domestic and international authorities and experts.

From authoritarian evaluation to internet voting, the Olympic Fine Arts ensures a broad and universal participation at all levels. The best interpretation of the concept of "Everyone Participates" as advocated by the People’s Olympics.

Creating A Landmark Exhibition

Olympic painting can be traced back to the Olympic Games of ancient Greece. To promote the development of sports culture, the International Olympic Committee held the first Olympic sports and art contest in Sydney in 2000; during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, 56 countries and regions sent more than 100 pieces of works.

Compared to the previous two sports and the arts contests, the Olympic Fine Arts 2008 has its own special characteristics.

On the design of competition system, the scale and specifications of the participants far surpasses the previous two "Sport and Art Contest."

Olympic Fine Arts 2008 plans rely on urban traffic network which extends in all directions and advertising lamp boxes of bus shelters to show a persistent, systematic visual landscape project: "Urban Art Corridor" (CITY & ART). The vision is to allow Beijing to become an open art gallery.

Everybody can enjoy the latest works by contemporary domestic and international artists, any time and anywhere. This will not only enhance the city's image and artistic tastes but also make elegant art more popular and close to everyone’s daily life.

Beijingers can easily participate in the selection and interact by using new media such as mobile phones, networks, mobile television and network television. These will meet everyone's enthusiasm of participation and expand the impact of the event.

Olympic Fine Arts can be divided into three exhibition phases:pre-exhibition,formal exhibition, and touring exhibition.

During the Beijing Olympic Games, large-scale art exhibitions, art and Olympics forum will be organized and a series of activities, both at home and globally will be held after the Games conclude.

To motivate domestic and international young college students’ participation in Olympic Fine Arts, the Organizing Committee will organize a series of activities including a new Olympic Digital Art Exhibition at Shanghai Pudong International Conference and Exhibition Center in June this year.

At the new exhibition in Shanghai, works created by outstanding animation artists in China, Japan, South Korea, Europe, the United States and other countries will be gathered and is expected to attract millions of young viewers.

Let The World Know China, The Olympic Spirit & International Cultural Exchanges

Mr. He Zhenliang, chairman of International Olympic Committee Commission for Culture and Olympic Education, noted that Olympic Fine Arts 2008 will “play a good role on presenting 5,000 years of Chinese culture, arts, customs and the diversity of urban development. I hope this event can be more innovated, more featured to promote the participation of domestic and international artists in the Olympic movement but also promote the mutual progress of Chinese modern sport and culture undertaking”.

Current artists give high marks to the creativity and ideas of the Olympic Fine Arts 2008. Art has become an inseparable part of the development of the Olympic Games; artists can get a lot of creative inspiration from the Olympic Movement. Through this platform, there will be one more window through which the world can know China, carry forward the Olympic spirit and promote cultural exchanges between Chinese and the world.

IOC, COC, BOCOG and the Ministry of Culture of China (MCC) pay significant attention to this event. All sides actively worked to contact the artists all over the world to participate in the event which also received full support from Olympic licensed sponsors.