Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival Chengdu 2025

I was honored to be invited by the organizers of the “Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival” in Chengdu to do a project that I was carrying out together with the art department of the Chengdu University of Technology. This project was a joint “live” painting titled “On the Road” depicting the Silk Road.

I created the concept of the sketch a month before my arrival, and then it was modified, with mutual consent, by the side of the art department of Chengdu University of Technology. 8 students and their instructor Qiao Yu worked hard to transfer the resulting sketch to canvas.

: Szlak Jedwabny – szkic koncepcyjny; Polska, Cesarstwo Rzymskie, Egipt, Turcja

: Szlak Jedwabny – szkic koncepcyjny; Persja, Indie, Chiny

: Szlak Jedwabny – szkic, Cesarstwo Rzymskie, koncepcja druga

: Szlak Bursztynowy – Polska, szkic, koncepcja druga

Here in the photos, unofficial and unexpected, mutual exchange of welcome gifts: I gave the school a set of minerals (collected myself in Poland), and the school gave me a dinosaur skeleton embroidered on silk (brocade) – the symbol of their university.

Cooperation with Chengdu University of Technology at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival in Chengdu

The photos above and below show me, Qiao Yu (PhD in Fine Arts), and her group of students with whom we collaborated to create the painting “On the Road,” which can be seen behind us.

Cooperation with Chengdu University of Technology at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival in Chengdu

In the photo below we pose with the Consul General of Poland in Guangzhou, Mr. Piotr Nowotniak, and with Mr. Sebastian Tajl, a patron of the arts who contributed significantly to helping establish the Polish representation of artists during the “Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage” in Chengdu.

Cooperation with Chengdu University of Technology at the Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival in Chengdu – posing with Polish Consul, Piotr Nowotniak, and polish art curator Sebastian Tajl

The festival was enormous and breathtaking. I even met the Minister of Cultur, whom I had the opportunity to shake hands with and impress with my knowledge of a single sentence in Chinese: “It’s very nice to meet you.” Later, I also used this phrase to greet the Governor of Sichuan, the Dean of Chengdu University of Technology, other university leaders, and the Director of the Natural History Museum. The “wow” factor was guaranteed.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival – posing with the Dean of Chengdu University of Technology and the head teacher with whom I have been painting – Qiao Yu.

I’ll immodestly boast here that I’ve been granted a great honor, for which I’m incredibly grateful. I’m a passionate collector of minerals and fossils, so I decided to present various beautiful specimens I’ve personally found from Poland to the university authorities, as it’s most famous for its Department of Geology. Quite coincidentally, they gave me a matching gift, embroidered on silk, of a dinosaur skeleton—a unique, spectacular species found by university scientists in Sichuan. I was delighted with the gift, and they were delighted with mine. The university even decided to organize a ceremony to officially hand over my minerals to the Museum of Natural History (part of Chengdu University of Technology).

This museum is enormous, its mineral collection is unique, incredibly rich, and beautifully displayed. It also has a section dedicated to dinosaurs and modern animal species. I’m incredibly grateful that my humble gift has found a home in such a distinguished place. I, in turn, received a collectible “Chengdu 2021 World University Summer Games, FISU” plush panda from the director.

exchaning gifts with the head of the Museum of Natural History in Chengdu

Chengdu Natural History Museum certificate of donation

I gave numerous interviews, posed for countless photos, and attended delicious official dinners, including one with the esteemed Consul General of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Piotr Nowotniak, who also came from Guangzhou for the festival. I gained about 5 kg, but it was worth it.

We visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding,

We climbed to the top of Qingcheng Mountain – the birthplace of Taoism, where I met two old cats: black and white, like yin and yang.

Qingcheng Mountain

And I took part in a hanfu-style photo shoot – for which I am extremely grateful to Qiao Yu, with whom we simply became friends.

us and Qiao Yu doing HanFu

us and Qiao Yu doing HanFu photoshoot

China surprises me every time I visit. It’s developing so rapidly that sci-fi scenes are becoming commonplace. This was my fourth visit, and each time I’m amazed by everything I see, try, and discover. And each time, I’m greeted with such warmth and openness. I’m incredibly grateful for that.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival Chengdu 2025, certificate of participation

Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival Chengdu 2025

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