Mathias Lafolie, cultural counselor of embassy of Sweden to China, delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the Art Festival of Facing the Sea. [Photo/ xmnn.cn]

The Art Festival of Facing the Sea commences in Aotou, a small town in Xiamen, Fujian province on Dec 17, marking the beginning of Swedish Culture Year.

The China-Sweden Maritime Silk Road Art Show opened to the public after the opening ceremony of the art festival, which will run through February next year.

More than 200 pieces of works from 11 Nordic artists and four Chinese artists were on display at the art show, including oil paintings, ink and wash paintings, sculptures and videos.

Among them, a group of 30 landscape paintings attracted numerous visitors, which were painted by Hjordis Tegsell, an artist from Northern Europe.

According to the artist, she took the train from Denmark passing by Russia and Mongolia and finally arrived in China, during which she recorded the landscapes along the route with her paintbrushes. The route is also part of the Silk Roads specified by the “Belt and Road” Initiative.

Mathias Lafolie, cultural counselor of the embassy of Sweden to China, spoke highly of Aotou.

"Aotou is a beautiful and friendly town," the counselor said. "The Swedish government is willing to strengthen cultural exchanges with the town that is filled with artistic atmosphere."

He also suggested that Aotou can act as an exchange center between China and Sweden where more cooperation projects between the two countries can be launched so as to help more people learn about Swedish and Aotou cultures.

Wang Tong, a Swedish Chinese artist, is also fond of Aotou. He said that Autou, an ancient port, where Aotouers started their journeys to Southeast Asia 100 years ago, is now a port of art attracting artists from all over the world.

He hopes that in the future Aotou can introduce the Chinese spirit and Chinese culture to the world.

The year of 2017 was determined to be the Swedish Culture Year during the visit of Prime Minister Stefan L?fven of Sweden to China in July of this year and Chinese cities will hold various cultural activities to promote Swedish culture.