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Xu Bochu: In my point of view, the best art of any nation or culture is the very art of the very nation or the very culture. The generation of people at my age is usually inclined to keep up strong native characteristics, no matter how long we have lived abroad or how active they are engaged in art creation overseas. Probably it has something to do with our personal experiences. Owing to the profound impact of our native Culture on us before we went abroad, we have been nourished by the overwhelming Chinese culture. Our outlook on life is so determined that it is almost impossible to be changed. As a result, the coexistence of Chinese culture and external culture in our artworks is rather natural. Born in China and deeply rooted in the soil of Chinese culture, we are reluctant to abandon our native culture in a rash. Let alone the strong touch of the oriental civilization, especially the abundance and extensiveness of Chinese culture, which is incomparable. The culture of many Asian countries, especially the islands countries, such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam, is more or less influenced by Chinese culture. Yet the culture of India, which is very much affected by its powerful religions, also makes a strong voice in the world of art.

In the end of the 20th century, more and more Chinese artists went to the West for advanced studies. Some of them come back to China while the others stay overseas. According to Xu Bochu, artists cannot be simply distinguished between domestic and abroad. Never for one second in his life, he regrets his choice on the road of arts.

Xu Bochu: As for the word ‘choice’, the generation of people of my age used to have no choice mostly. We couldn’t choose our professions, jobs, hobbies, or even marriage when we were young. Although we have the opportunities to choose now, yet we have few choices left actually being limited by our age, courage and social responsibilities. However, it was probably because of the meager choices in our life, we tend to be especially determined. As we know that the word ‘U-turn’ doesn’t exist in our dictionary.

In my point of view, the most important thing for an artist is to gain experiences and feelings from life. To tell you the truth, sometimes I am under pressure, as I realize that fixed environment and a permanent job may hold back an artist’s sensation and instinct. It will be a disaster for him if his feelings and passions fade away. With the increasing globalization of economy, culture tends to be more and more diversified with multi-directions. Therefore, interaction and exchange between China and the world get more and more significant. That’s why we keep up exchange programs for the artists from the SWJU and the National University for Applied Arts in Vienna since 1997. The eye-opening experiences not only widen the artists’ outlooks but also help a lot to improve the construction and development of art as a subject in both universities.

（Source: chinaculture.org）