Sergio Fausto Cabrera Cárdenas, ambassador of Colombia to China gives his welcome remarks at the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Beijing on December 11, 2025. Photos: Dong Feng/GT

As part of the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Colombia and China, the Embassy of the Republic of Colombia in China hosted the opening ceremony of an exhibition titled Young Art In Colombia: Two Perspectives in Beijing on December 11. Sergio Fausto Cabrera Cárdenas, ambassador of Colombia to China told the Global Times on Thursday that 2025 has been a great year for promoting Colombia's image. 

With several highlights including the exhibition of Fernando Botero, a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor, in Guangzhou, South China's Guangzhou Province, film festivals, and launch of a documentary film titled Chiribiquete, the year of celebration has indeed been very successful. 

In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Cabrera said the exhibition reminded us that the strength of Colombian art also lies in those who are today building, with boldness and sensitivity, the pathways of the future. 

He said at the inauguration that this artistic encounter invites all visitors to cross borders and share memories, landscapes, and everyday experiences that connect cultures and generations. 

"We celebrate the talent of these artists as a symbol of an innovative Colombia that is open to the world. We invite both the Chinese and international public to discover the vitality and richness of our cultural identity in Beijing," said Ambassador Cabrera.

The exhibition features two Colombian artists, Angie Vega, and Javier Morales, showcasing the diversity and creativity of the new generations of Colombians. 

Santiago Gamboa, writer, and minister counselor of the Embassy of Colombia in China, who is also the curator for the exhibition, told the Global Times that the two artists are very talented. "I don't think this is a point of arrival, rather this is a point of departure," he said, sharing that the Colombian artists might stay in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, to absorb more Chinese elements and get access to Chinese culture as the young generation.  

In Vega's work, painting acts as a reflective medium for questioning, appropriating, and understanding archetypal dynamics of family and personal existence. Her production stems from a meticulous observation of daily life and domestic environments, in which transformation becomes visible signs of the passage of time and the brevity of human existence.

In her pieces, objects, corners, and remnants of popular homes function as material traces of the relationships woven within them. In this way, her painting stands as a device of memory: a way to rework the everyday with lucidity and without idealization, to express the beauty and tension of the ordinary. 

Morales' subject of study is focused on daily life near the mountains, in the countryside, particularly in the north and south of Tolima in Colombia. 

Javier Morales (3rd from right) discusses his paintings with visitors at the opening ceremony of the exhibition in Beijing on December 11, 2025.. Photo: Dong Feng/GT

"I paint on surfaces I find in the street. I'm interested in the memory contained in these things I discover, and I believe that objects can also observe us. I have to paint every day, this is how I live," Morales told the Global Times. 

At the opening ceremony, Morales also interacted with Chinese visitors. One of the visitors, surnamed Chen, who is also a painter, said that the colors Morales applies are genuine and bright, which is very different from Chinese traditional paintings. 

Given the exhibition also serves as a wrap-up for the 45th anniversary campaign, Ambassador Cabrera told the Global Times that 2025 has been a milestone bilateral relationship. "This year has been important because I think this is the best year of bilateral relationship between China and Colombia, as the relationship of China and Colombia has not been as good as now."

He noted that 2025 has witnessed Colombia's commitment to the Belt and Road Memorandum of Understanding during the state visit of President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego in October. This year has also marked more of Colombian goods imported to China. 

Ambassador Cabrera said that more cultural activities are planned for the year 2026 such as theater, painting, poetry recital and musical activities. 

Minister-Counselor Gamboa echoed that more cultural activities will be organized next year, "As culture is very important and could be the most humane way to understand other societies," he said.