Zhao Meng (; 28 June 1957 – 18 July 2019) was a Chinese sculptor and art educator. He served as Vice President and Party Secretary of the Academy of Arts & Design of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

Biography

Zhao Meng was born on 28 June 1957 in

Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

, China. After graduating from the Central Academy of Arts and Design () in September 1982, he was hired by the academy as a faculty member. In 1999, the Central Academy of Arts and Design was merged into

to become Tsinghua's Academy of Arts & Design. Zhao served as Chair of the Department of Sculpture of the academy from 1999 to 2005. From 2005 to 2011 he served as Vice President of the academy, and then as Party Secretary from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an expert advisor to the Beijing Municipal Government. During the

handover of Hong Kong Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the British Hong Kong, former colony. Hong Kong was establ ...

from Britain to China in 1997, the Chinese government presented Zhao's

public sculpture Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically access ...

"The Forever Blossoming Bauhinia" as a gift to Hong Kong. During the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, Zhao served as art director for image and landscape, and received the national

model worker Model worker (, abbreviated as 劳模 or ''láomó'') refers to an exemplary worker who exhibits some or all of the traits appropriate to the ideal of the socialism. Exemplary worker come from various sectors of the Chinese economy, including the i ...

award. Zhao published about 50 research papers and at least five books, including ''Sculpture Art in China''. He won multiple awards, including the Achievement in Sculpture award by the

Ministry of Culture of China The Ministry of Culture (MOC) was a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which was dissolved on 19 March 2018. The responsibilities of the MOC, which were assumed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, encompassed cultur ...

. On 18 July 2019, Zhao died of a sudden illness while on a business trip in

Jiuquan Jiuquan, formerly known as Suzhou, is a prefecture-level city in the northwesternmost part of Gansu Province in the People's Republic of China. It is more than wide from east to west, occupying , although its built-up area is mostly located in ...

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

, at the age of 62.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Meng 1957 births 2019 deaths Chinese sculptors Artists from Henan People from Kaifeng Educators from Henan Tsinghua University alumni Academic staff of Tsinghua University