The opening of the exhibition of work of arts by the Chinese artist Shen Liping:

Excellencies, dear guests and audience;

The exhibition, which is now to be opened here at Nordisk Kunstnersenter, has a very special background. It is astonishing that a small place in the western parts of Norway organizes an extensive exhibition by a Chinese artist. The story goes back in time to 1997, when the handicapped Jiapeng Mark Wang, in connection with the visit of The Norwegian King and Queen to China, received a two years scholarship for studying at Røde Kors Nordisk United World College here in Fjaler. His mother, the artist Shen Liping, was appointed "One of ten outstanding mothers of China" in 2001.

The story of Jiapeng Mark Wang’s education and his mother’s struggle for her son and her artistic activity, will now constitute the bases for a TV-series made up of 20 parts that is going to be produced by Central China Television 1 (CCTV1). The plans are to produce many of these parts in Norway. Related to this, Røde Kors Nordisk United World College got the idea that they might contact their close working partner, Nordisk Kunstnersenter Dalsåsen, in order to organize an exhibition of works of art by Shen Lipeng.

I met Jiapeng Mark Wang when he took part in the skiing competition for functionally disabled, the so called Ridderrennet, earlier this year. On that occasion he also participated in the cultural program and performed songs, dances and drama from China.

Now I look forward to getting to know the art of his mother. That will give a better understanding and a more comprehensive picture of this very special mother – son relationship.

The cooperation between a school and an art centre – both with an international profile – has meant a lot both for the students at the school and for the artists at the art centre. People from more than 80 different nations have had the opportunity to work together within this framework. The Fjaler-society has become a meeting point for people from all over the world, and this will – through the TV-series – be presented as an international cultural meeting. Both for the school and the art centre the fundamental idea is that cultural exchange and the expressions of art contribute in a valuable way to the understanding between nations and people, and may also boost the cooperation on a more global bases.

Shen Liping was born in Yinchuan, Ningxia Province of China in 1957. She graduated from Academy of Arts, Hunan Normal University in 1979 and studied later traditional Chinese painting along with mural painting. The last ten years she has been working as a professional painter for Painting & Calligraphy Society of Ningxia China. Many of her paintings have been exhibited in USA, United Kingdom, Japan, France and Thailand.

There are about 70 paintings and drawings available for the exhibition. I hope that most of these works can be seen here at Nordisk Kunstnersenter.

It is a great pleasure for me to open the exhibition of works of Shen Liping, a well known female Chinese artist, who has also distinguished herself as "One of ten outstanding mothers of China".

Speech under graduation:

Dear guests, teachers and students,

First I want to thank you all for this nice day at your school. Thank you for your kindness and appreciation to me. For me this day has been like a dream, looking into a world of fellowship.

It’s my firm belief that education and understanding, together with knowledge about other countries and cultures, constitute the best possible points of departure for developing co-operation and peace between nations. Here at the Røde Kors Nordisk United World College I see students from many nations coming together to further these values. These values are going to make their marks on you regardless whether you dedicate one or several years of your lives to the studies here. Our hope from a Norwegian point of view is that all of you, when returning back to your countries of origin will sustain your relationship to Norway and become ambassadors for Norway abroad.

I do also hope that you will maintain your Norwegian networks after returning back home.

I have met personally the Chinese student Jiapeng Mark Wang who got a scholarship for two years for studying at this school. I met him during the annual Ridderrenn, a cross-country competition for persons with disabilities, when he also participated in the program giving an interesting glimpse of Chinese culture. I also know that he has created a network in Norway, for example in my home village Svindal in Østfold County and I have good hopes that he will keep this network in the future.

In everything that happens in your life – don’t forget to bee in touch with your own soul. God bless you all! For all of you I hope that your stay in Norway has enriched you in many ways and I take this opportunity to convey a few words of greeting from our Minister of Cultural and Church Affairs, Mrs. Valgerd Svarstad Haugland. She herself comes from this part of the country and was raised at a District School for Higher Education. Today she is busy with the Princess wedding in Trondheim.

I wish you all the best for the future, and I will give you a personally greeting at this special day. The Princess and Ari Behn surprised the media when they walked for 4 days as pilgrims to the holy place of Nidarosdomen. They wanted to take a journey also inside life, telling stories from the Bible. As a "fairytale" they had their time of silence and meditation.