The Liu Shiming Art Foundation has successfully inaugurated the Liu Shiming Scholars Fund at The American University in Cairo (AUC) during a ceremony held at the university on February 26, 2023.
Through the Liu Shiming Scholars Fund, the foundation will support in perpetuity one undergraduate Egyptian student who majors in visual arts, graphic design or cultural studies. The student selected will be in good academic standing and will have demonstrated both financial need and academic merit. The relationship with AUC is part of a larger network of programs established with universities across the Middle East, created as an extension of Liu Shiming’s passion for cultivating and growing a global arts discourse that recognizes our common humanity.
During the inauguration ceremony, the Liu Shiming Art Foundation gifted one of Liu Shiming’s sculptures to the school as a physical symbol of the new relationship. The piece, a bronze sculpture entitled “Silk Road,” depicts the fusion of a camel and a Buddha, and has been specially reproduced by the foundation at nearly four times its original size for the AUC.
Inspired by the Silk Road, the network of trade routes which played a key role in facilitating economic and cultural exchange between East Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the piece is Shiming’s homage to the route itself and the spiritual journey those who traveled the Silk Road undertook. “‘As Shiming wrote in his diaries, “Silk Road” is about the inner journey of embarking into the unknown, and we hope the sculpture will inspire AUC students to contemplate their own life’s journeys on campus and beyond,” shared Liu Shiming Art Foundation board member Geoffrey M. Glick. The sculpture will be permanently exhibited at the university.
The establishment of the Liu Shiming Scholars Fund and the sculpture donation at AUC are part of the foundation’s ongoing efforts to support the next generation of creatives while keeping the legacy of Liu Shiming alive. The Liu Shiming Art Foundation looks forward to a fruitful and productive partnership with The American University in Cairo.