In early December, the English website JiangsuNow, operated by Xinhua Daily Media Group, received a digital sculpture submission from Damiano Bianco, a graduate student at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy. This work is a direct response to the "Global Youth Cyber Sculpture Program" recently launched in Athens and a testament to the new opportunities that the digital wave is bringing to artistic creation and civilizational dialogue.
In 2021, the renowned sculptor Wu Weishan's work Divine Encounter—Dialogue between Confucius and Socrates journeyed from China to be permanently installed at the foot of the Acropolis. Now in its fourth year, this "outbound" sculpture stands as a vivid footnote to mutual learning among civilizations. In the autumn of 2025, Shang Rong, Vice Dean of the School of Arts of Nanjing University, visited the site. In a deep conversation with Christos GIKAS, President of the Greek-Chinese Association of Cultural & Economic Relations, GIKAS reflected emotionally: "With the sculptures of these two great thinkers 'meeting' here, the civilizations of East and West they represent are also in continuous dialogue across past, present, and future."
Two weeks later, Chinese media and academia returned to Athens, bringing nine contemporary sculptures from Jiangsu. The "Sculpting Thoughts International Sculpture Exchange and Exhibition and the launch ceremony for the "Global Youth Cyber Sculpture Program" were held there. The program features a dedicated page on JiangsuNow's English website, calling for digital sculpture submissions from young artists worldwide. Upon its announcement, the initiative garnered widespread attention. Ms. Victoria ZYGOUROU, Director of the Municipal Art Gallery, expressed great admiration for China's progress in art digitization and stated she would actively promote the program.
Riccardo Caldura, Director of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, believes that without form and space, sculpture ceases to exist. Wu Weishan holds that while technology can hardly replace the spark of instant emotion, it can serve as an aid to creation. These dialogues themselves are a profound practice of civilizational exchange. Chiara Squarcina, Scientific Director of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia (Venice Civic Museums Foundation), noted that from Marco Polo to the present day, dialogue has enriched all parties involved, and this must continue.
Literature and art facilitate communication and connect souls. Xinhua Daily Media Group has always been committed to building bridges for cultural exchange between China and the world. Its JiangsuNow International Communication Center adheres to the core philosophy of "To communicate, To connect" and actively participates in global people-to-people exchanges. This year, under the guidance of the Publicity Department of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, the Group, in collaboration with academia, launched the "Sculpting Thoughts" international cultural exchange project. Through a documentary, an overseas exhibition, a digital co-creation program, and a series of cross-media communications, this dialogue is being conveyed globally.
For those with shared aspirations, no distance is too far; for innovators, no boundary of space or time is absolute. As Shuang Chuanxue, President of Xinhua Daily Media Group, stated, in the tide of digitalization, the function and boundaries of media organizations are constantly being renewed. They are not merely discoverers, recorders, and thinkers but also new connectors. Through a series of multi-level, cross-media agenda-setting, the media project "Sculpting Thoughts" demonstrates the responsibility of mainstream media and promotes innovative practices in mutual learning among civilizations.
Now, digital works from young people across the globe are continuously flowing in. This dialogue that began in Athens is now extending simultaneously in reality and in the cloud, proving a timeless truth: civilizations, like water, will eventually converge; dialogue, like light, illuminates one another.
12月初，新華報(bào)業(yè)傳媒集團(tuán)JiangsuNow英文網(wǎng)郵箱收到了一封來自海外的郵件。意大利威尼斯大學(xué)研究生達(dá)米亞諾·比安科發(fā)來數(shù)字雕塑投稿，運(yùn)用人工智能與3D建模技術(shù)，塑造了全新數(shù)字雕塑形象。
這封郵件，正是對(duì)不久前江蘇在希臘雅典啟動(dòng)的“全球青年賽博雕塑共創(chuàng)計(jì)劃”的一次直接回應(yīng)，也悄然印證著，在數(shù)字化浪潮的推動(dòng)下，藝術(shù)創(chuàng)作與文明對(duì)話的形式，正迎來嶄新的機(jī)遇。
JiangsuNow英文網(wǎng)“全球青年賽博雕塑共創(chuàng)計(jì)劃”專題界面
雅典衛(wèi)城山腳下的古市集，兩尊青銅雕塑靜靜相對(duì)，孔子寬袖拱手，蘇格拉底持書沉吟。鴿子時(shí)而掠過，在雕塑的肩頭停留片刻，又振翅向遠(yuǎn)方飛去。這是著名雕塑家吳為山的作品《神遇——孔子與蘇格拉底的對(duì)話》。2021年9月，這組雕塑從中國出發(fā)，遠(yuǎn)渡重洋，永立于此，到今年已逾4個(gè)年頭。這組“出海”雕塑是中華文化走出去的一個(gè)生動(dòng)縮影。吳為山已有60多尊雕塑立于世界31個(gè)國家和地區(qū)。他以中國藝術(shù)“寫意”的美學(xué)精神豐富了世界雕塑藝術(shù)語言，搭建起一座座文化對(duì)話與心靈溝通的橋梁。
著名雕塑家吳為山作品《神遇——孔子與蘇格拉底的對(duì)話》局部
2025年初秋，吳為山的學(xué)生、南京大學(xué)雕塑藝術(shù)研究所所長尚榮從南京飛抵雅典。站在老師的作品前，他望向不遠(yuǎn)處的雅典衛(wèi)城，帕特農(nóng)神廟的廊柱在晴空下肅立，與眼前兩位思想者的“對(duì)話”，構(gòu)成一幅跨越時(shí)空的文明拼圖。
希中經(jīng)濟(jì)文化交流協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)長克里斯托斯·吉卡斯與南京大學(xué)雕塑藝術(shù)研究所所長尚榮
在這里，尚榮遇見了希中經(jīng)濟(jì)文化交流協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)長克里斯托斯·吉卡斯。曾四次到訪中國敦煌的吉卡斯，凝望著雕塑感慨道：“孔子和蘇格拉底生活在同一時(shí)代，都對(duì)中西方文化產(chǎn)生深遠(yuǎn)影響。兩位偉大的思想家的雕塑在這里‘會(huì)面’，他們所代表的中西方的文明也在過去現(xiàn)在和未來不斷展開對(duì)話。”
雕塑前，游人如織。不僅有希臘本地人，也有從德國、意大利、荷蘭遠(yuǎn)道而來的訪客。他們駐足、凝視，仿佛傾聽一場從未中斷的對(duì)話。
時(shí)隔半月，尚榮帶著九件來自江蘇青年藝術(shù)家的雕塑作品，重返雅典。衛(wèi)城腳下的藝術(shù)空間燈火通明。“思想者的對(duì)話”國際雕塑交流展暨“全球青年賽博雕塑共創(chuàng)計(jì)劃”在此啟幕。活動(dòng)由新華報(bào)業(yè)傳媒集團(tuán)與江蘇省雕塑家協(xié)會(huì)聯(lián)合承辦，并獲中國城市雕塑家協(xié)會(huì)學(xué)術(shù)支持。中希兩國文化、藝術(shù)、哲學(xué)界數(shù)十位嘉賓共聚一堂。這是東西方藝術(shù)的真誠對(duì)話，更是厚植于兩國文明的思想碰撞。恰逢滿月，澄澈明凈，古老的遺跡與當(dāng)代的靈光，在月色中交匯。
這是一次藝術(shù)“出海”的再出發(fā)，同時(shí)也開啟了一場全新對(duì)話。
“全球青年賽博雕塑共創(chuàng)計(jì)劃”在JiangsuNow英文網(wǎng)特別開設(shè)專題，面向全球青年藝術(shù)家征集“思想者的對(duì)話”主題數(shù)字雕塑作品，邀請(qǐng)來自不同地區(qū)和國家的青年人，用數(shù)字雕塑呈現(xiàn)“多元文明如何在承古開今中共生共榮”這一理念。該計(jì)劃一經(jīng)發(fā)布，就引起了廣泛關(guān)注。
活動(dòng)現(xiàn)場，嘉賓圍繞“全球青年賽博雕塑共創(chuàng)計(jì)劃”熱烈討論
在交談中，雅典市政府美術(shù)館館長維多利亞·齊古魯對(duì)中國的藝術(shù)數(shù)字化進(jìn)程很是贊賞，她說：“希中都是文明古國，在藝術(shù)上各有輝煌。如今中國在數(shù)字技術(shù)與藝術(shù)融合方面發(fā)展迅速，這一點(diǎn)值得我們學(xué)習(xí)。”“數(shù)字雕塑開啟新的藝術(shù)理念，網(wǎng)絡(luò)征集縮小了全球半徑，這本身就是青年藝術(shù)家喜歡的方式。如何致敬藝術(shù)經(jīng)典又同時(shí)擁抱數(shù)字新浪潮，這是全球性的新課題，很有價(jià)值！”雅典市政府文體與青年組織部文化項(xiàng)目助理西奧多羅斯·帕納約圖對(duì)該計(jì)劃表現(xiàn)出濃厚的興趣，他著手向當(dāng)?shù)厍嗄晁囆g(shù)家積極推介這個(gè)創(chuàng)新計(jì)劃。
科技浪潮帶來新機(jī)遇，也引發(fā)人們的思考。古典的價(jià)值何在，技術(shù)的邊界何在？“通過數(shù)字軟件生成的雕塑，還是真正意義上的雕塑嗎？”面對(duì)新華日?qǐng)?bào)記者的提問，威尼斯美術(shù)學(xué)院院長里卡多·卡爾杜拉沉思片刻：“通過現(xiàn)代技術(shù)，一切變得更簡單自如。但是對(duì)我來說，雕塑是光影與實(shí)體共同塑造的藝術(shù)。如果沒有形體，沒有空間，雕塑就不復(fù)存在。”
卡爾杜拉的保留態(tài)度，觸及了一個(gè)深層的哲學(xué)命題：何為存在？何為藝術(shù)的本質(zhì)？
對(duì)此，吳為山曾表達(dá)過自己的見解：人工智能與3D打印可快速塑形，卻難捕捉那一瞬即興的情感與意志的顫動(dòng)，而那正是雕塑的靈魂所在。但他并不排斥技術(shù)：“我們可以借助3D打印這樣的科學(xué)技術(shù)，在這個(gè)基礎(chǔ)上再進(jìn)行創(chuàng)造，是一種新的創(chuàng)作方式。”
南京大學(xué)哲學(xué)學(xué)院博士生李泉沂則從傳播的角度思考：不是所有人都有機(jī)會(huì)親臨雕塑現(xiàn)場。數(shù)字技術(shù)能把藝術(shù)帶入虛擬空間，抵達(dá)更多人。
雕塑會(huì)“說話”，文明在對(duì)話，人類在共鳴。不同的聲音彼此交織，正是在這樣的交流中，理解得以深化。
著名雕塑家吳為山與南京大學(xué)雕塑藝術(shù)研究所所長尚榮、南京大學(xué)博士生李泉沂暢談關(guān)于藝術(shù)與技術(shù)的思索
這種對(duì)傳統(tǒng)與未來的探索，正成為當(dāng)下全球藝術(shù)界的共同實(shí)踐。就在威尼斯，主題為“智能·自然·人工·集體”的第19屆威尼斯國際建筑雙年展正在舉行，特設(shè)的中國館以“容·智慧”為主題，通過多件前沿技術(shù)裝置，向世界呈現(xiàn)東方哲學(xué)智慧。這些實(shí)踐說明，無論形式與舞臺(tái)如何隨時(shí)代拓展更新，對(duì)話的本質(zhì)從未改變。
在中國媒體和學(xué)界一行的文化交流中，威尼斯市立博物館館長基婭拉·斯夸爾奇納的一番話令人印象深刻：“文化和歷史遺產(chǎn)不僅是記憶，更是靈感的來源。通過馬可·波羅，通過持續(xù)的文化交流，歐洲從東方學(xué)到了很多。我們希望這樣的對(duì)話能繼續(xù)下去。”
斯夸爾奇納的話語，指向一個(gè)深層洞察：媒介即訊息，無處不在。馬可·波羅的行跡是媒介，雕塑是媒介，藝術(shù)是，展覽是，媒體亦然。它們不止承載內(nèi)容，其形式本身就在塑造感知、構(gòu)建關(guān)系。在國際傳播中，媒體不僅是在傳遞信息，更為不同文明搭建可對(duì)話的環(huán)境，讓彼此的話語得以交匯與校準(zhǔn)。
習(xí)近平總書記指出，“以文化人，更能凝結(jié)心靈；以藝通心，更易溝通世界”。新華報(bào)業(yè)傳媒集團(tuán)始終致力于搭建中外文化交流的橋梁，集團(tuán)所屬江蘇Now國際傳播中心秉持“建立更廣泛的連接To communicate, To connect”的核心理念，建立多媒體傳播形態(tài)，創(chuàng)辦多語種交流平臺(tái)，積極參與全球人文交流。今年，在江蘇省委宣傳部的指導(dǎo)下，新華報(bào)業(yè)傳媒集團(tuán)攜手學(xué)界和藝術(shù)界，策劃推出“Sculpting Thoughts 思想者的對(duì)話”國際文化交流項(xiàng)目，通過一部深度紀(jì)錄片追蹤東西方哲學(xué)與美學(xué)的源流，一場海外雕塑展覽實(shí)現(xiàn)作品的直接對(duì)話，一個(gè)“全球青年賽博雕塑共創(chuàng)計(jì)劃”搭建無國界的虛擬創(chuàng)作展示平臺(tái)，一組全媒體傳播聯(lián)動(dòng)將這場對(duì)話傳遞至全球。
紀(jì)錄片《Sculpting Thoughts 思想者的對(duì)話》面向全球同步發(fā)布
志同者，不以山海為遠(yuǎn)；創(chuàng)新者，不以時(shí)空為界。正如新華日?qǐng)?bào)社黨委書記、社長，新華報(bào)業(yè)傳媒集團(tuán)董事長雙傳學(xué)所言，今天，我們發(fā)起“思想者的對(duì)話”項(xiàng)目，不是單向的展示，而是真誠的互動(dòng)，搭建文明對(duì)話、理解互鑒的橋梁。這座橋梁，通向的不是孰優(yōu)孰劣的博弈，而是共生共鳴的繁榮。數(shù)字化浪潮帶來全球文明的集體追問和思考，也同樣賦予傳播新的內(nèi)涵與機(jī)遇。媒介機(jī)構(gòu)的功能和邊界不斷煥新，它不僅是發(fā)現(xiàn)者、記錄者和思考者，更是全新的鏈接者。以責(zé)任擔(dān)當(dāng)為旗、以國際視野為域、以文化敘事為核、以技術(shù)賦能為翼，“Sculpting Thoughts 思想者的對(duì)話”通過一系列多層次、跨媒介的議程設(shè)置，彰顯了主流媒體的責(zé)任擔(dān)當(dāng)，推動(dòng)了文明互鑒的創(chuàng)新實(shí)踐。
鼠標(biāo)輕點(diǎn)間，山海的邊界被消弭，文明的互鑒在進(jìn)行。隨著數(shù)字雕塑設(shè)計(jì)投稿從世界各地不斷涌入JiangsuNow英文網(wǎng)的郵箱，這場由中國媒體牽手學(xué)界發(fā)起的“思想者的對(duì)話”，正在云端與現(xiàn)實(shí)中同時(shí)延展，它是媒介新敘事，更印證著一個(gè)承古開今的真理：文明如水，終將交匯；對(duì)話如光，照亮彼此。
出品Producers / 雙傳學(xué)Shuang Chuanxue 胡連生Hu Liansheng
策劃Planner / 顧雷鳴Gu Leiming
監(jiān)制Supervisors / 高坡Gao Po 陳仁云Chen Renyun
統(tǒng)籌Coordinator / 沈崢嶸Shen Zhengrong
制作Creators / 曹晨Cao Chen 陳澄Chen Cheng
支持Project Support / 顧星欣Gu Xingxin
美編Art Editor / 劉翔Liu Xiang
出品Presented by
江蘇省委宣傳部
Publicity Department of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee
新華報(bào)業(yè)傳媒集團(tuán)
Xinhua Daily Media Group
承制Produced by
江蘇Now國際傳播中心
JiangsuNow International Communication Center
