Ren Shimin, a renowned artist of public art, has created remarkable sculptures for many Chinese cities. One of his recent masterpieces is on display in the lobby of the new African Union headquarters. Recently he shared with ChinAfrica his concept of artistic creation.

How did you come to participate in this project?

I was informed about the project in February 2011 when the China Artists Association organized a competitive bidding among artists. There were 10 designs that the judges looked at, and our design won by a unanimous vote. After that, it still had to get official approval from the African Union andChina. It took me three months to design and make the sculpture with my postgraduate students. During that time, many people contributed. I invited art masters and professors in the field to be counselors for our team. Many of them climbed on ladders to make adjustments to the piece with their own hands. 

What's important in making a design for the African Union's new building?

Art made for public environments is different from that made for display in a museum. The latter expresses personal emotion, but the former has to be scrutinized through a public lens. So it's important to put myself in others' shoes. It's not about me, as an artist, expressing myself, but about thinking as an African would and about what kind of voice they want the world to hear. I believe that's the first thing I had to figure out in this project. It's an African perspective rather than a Chinese one that I had to apply to illustrate African culture.

What's your understanding of African culture?

I get to know about Africa and its history through television and video materials. Technically, it would have been better if I could have had more time to experience real life in Africa, though I did spend some time traveling in Africa before. My nine years of living in Europe, where I was exposed to a lot of African art, also helped me.

The continent is home to the world's greatest civilization, and it now still has functioning tribes. I read a lot of materials to better understand Africa's various cultures, abundant species and different peoples. The African Union is just like the continent's United Nations. It is an autonomous organization free of influence from other foreign politics, and it aims to unite African nations as they step onto the international stage.

How did you express these ideas in your work?

At the center of the piece is the logo of African Union, symbolizing unity and solidarity. The idea of the golden ring comes from an ancient African tradition. To become the chief of a tribe, a man had to kill a lion with his bare hands to prove his ability and power. Then he cut off the lion's head and made a crown out of its hair. When the new chief danced in the ceremony celebrating his achievement, the lion's hair was waved in the air. Africans like to be compared to lions, a symbol of strength and the sacred power of nature. At the same time, the golden ring also represents the beams of the sun, which symbolize peace and hope.

As the birthplace of the earliest human civilization, Africa is home to colorful cultures, beautiful landscape and species. I displayed these elements on the piece's jade background with a big embossed picture.

What was the difficult part of creating this piece?

Given its weight, the jade board could be no thicker than 7 cm, which means I could only emboss 4 cm deep. The board was too thin to make many layers. I think that the piece features the most difficult embossing work ever done inChina. Some experts suggested that I give up and instead do line cutting, but that wasn't what I wanted.

In addition, it was important to analyze the environment, which is another thing that differentiates artists creating public architectural art from others. There is a corridor on the second floor, so when people enter the lobby they can only see the lower half of the piece. But as they walk forward, they can see the whole picture. Those on the corridor can only see the top half. In this case, I had to consider different visual perspectives. Meanwhile, the selected material had to match the architecture style, and environment protection and safety were all taken into consideration