Yuan Xikun (born 1944 in Kunming,

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

and

environmental activist The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advo ...

. In 2011, Yuan proposed building a giant sculpture composed of sand collected from five of Earth's

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...

s and water from its

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

and Antarctic regions to draw attention to ozone depletion and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. Yuan served on the Standing Committee of the

All-China Youth Federation The All-China Youth Federation (ACYF; zh , s = 中华全国青年联合会 ) is a people's organization founded on 4 May 1949 that represents many youth groups in China, including the Communist Youth League of China. Former paramount leaders ...

and was a member of the 11th Standing Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Yuan serves as the honorary president of the Sino-American Friendship Association.

Awards and decorations

* Top Philanthropist & Cultural Award (2006) * UNEP Patron for the Arts Environment (2010) * May Day Labor Honor Medal (2011) * Order of Merit, 3rd class (Ukraine, 2008)

References

Living people 1944 births Chinese contemporary artists Chinese environmentalists Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class Honorary Members of the Russian Academy of Arts People from Kunming Members of the Standing Committee of the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference {{environmentalist-stub