28/09/2026
Recently, the cultural exchange program The Silk Road: Light and Shadow — Sabancı University Faculty and Students’ Visit to China successfully concluded at Shenyang City University. Jointly organized by the Liaoning People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Sabancı University in Türkiye, and Shenyang City University, the four-day immersive exchange program used digital and visual media as a means of facilitating intercultural dialogue and fostering academic and creative exchange between young people from Turkish and Chinese universities.
A delegation of faculty members and students from Sabancı University traveled to Shenyang to participate in the program. As part of the exchange, the contemporary art exhibition, Between Branch and Byte opened at Green Island Art Gallery. Organized around the themes of “Longing and Belonging” and “Forms in Flux,” the exhibition presented a selection of original digital art artworks by Sabancı University faculty members, Yoong Wah Alex Wong and Selçuk Artut. The two artists shared their artistic approaches, research interests, and creative practices with the audience and participated in professional discussions with faculty members and students from Shenyang City University.
Jia Guifen, Vice President of the Liaoning People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks. She emphasized the historical and cultural connections between China and Türkiye through the heritage of the ancient Silk Road and highlighted artistic and cultural exchange among young people as an important means of strengthening people-to-people ties between the two countries.
Following the opening ceremony, the delegation attended Shenyang City University’s 2026 Commencement Ceremony and Student Farewell Reception. The participants experienced the celebratory atmosphere of a Chinese university graduation ceremony and expressed their appreciation for the formal yet welcoming character of the event.
The four-day exchange program combined academic discussions, field-based visual research, cultural experiences, and sports activities, providing participants with opportunities for interdisciplinary and intercultural engagement. The participants visited the Liaoning Provincial Museum, the Dragon Boat Race at Dingxiang Lake, the 1905 Creative Culture Park, Shenyang Imperial Palace, and the banks of the Hun River, where they conducted photographic and video documentation as part of their visual research activities. These field-based practices enabled participants to explore and document the cultural landscape of the Liaoning-Shenyang region from multiple perspectives, including industrial and creative culture, historical heritage, natural ecology, and contemporary urban environments. At the conclusion of the program, the organizers hosted a farewell dinner, following which the delegation returned to Türkiye.
This international exchange constitutes a significant example of people-to-people cultural engagement between Liaoning and Türkiye, as well as an initiative supporting the internationalization of higher education. The program provided young Turkish artists and researchers with opportunities to engage directly with the historical heritage and contemporary cultural development of the Liaoning-Shenyang region. At the same time, it created a shared platform through which participants from both countries could explore visual and communicative practices as forms of intercultural dialogue. Through collaborative artistic and academic exchange, the program contributed to a deeper understanding of different cultural contexts and encouraged mutual respect and dialogue between the participating communities.
The links:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_4cF8dEDbiPKdnsDibQ2mw
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/mrm_Vh-peEUhmVN_czeN0A
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YKnBD8rWmYpdierJMtwAPw
https://wap.lnrbxmt.com/news_details.html?from=androidapp&id=554028×tam
p=55670265163368591
