FROM THE ARCHIVES...

"CHINESE ACTRESS GONG LI NAMED ARTIST FOR PEACE"

May 10, 2000

[Paris] Chinese actress Gong Li was named yesterday UNESCO Artist for Peace by the Director-General of the Organization, Koïchiro Matsuura, "in recognition of her dedication to the Organization's ideals and aims."

The ceremony took place in the presence of the Chairperson of UNESCO's Executive Board Sonia Mendieta de Badaroux, the Chinese Ambassador to France Wu Jianmin and the Chinese Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Zhang Chongli.

During the ceremony, Koïchiro Matsuura underlined that the great interest shown by Gong Li in education and the environment would "offer fertile ground for our future co-operation". Describing the actress as "a dazzling representative of one of the world's great civilisations," the Director-General said her support for UNESCO's activities would help the Organization reach all those who have been touched by the magic of her art.

The Director-General reiterated UNESCO's mission to facilitate dialogue and mutual understanding between peoples, an ambitious task in which the Organization relies on the help of many different partners, including UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors and Artists for Peace. "Leading international personalities can, through their influence and charisma, their fame and their audience, give extraordinary resonance to UNESCO's message," he added.

In her acceptance speech, Gong Li said: "I will do my best in promoting the education of the world's children and for the protection of the environment, and would appreciate your support in order to fulfill this most challenging task."

Gong Li began her career in 1987 with Red Sorghum (Golden Bear at the Berlin Festival). Next came Ju Dou (1990), Wives and Concubines (1991), Qiu Ju, A Chinese Woman (1992), Farewell, My Concubine (1993), To Live (1994), Shanghai Triad (1995), Temptress Moon (1996), Chinese Box (1997) and The Emperor and the Murderer (1999). Several of these films have received awards at Venice and Cannes. Gong Li was awarded the Prize for Best Actress at Venice in 1992 for her role in Qiu Ju, A Chinese Woman.

Address by Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the occasion of the nomination ceremony of Gong Li as UNESCO Artist For Peace

UNESCO, 9 May 2000

Gong Li, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to UNESCO. I learned Mandarin for a short time in the middle of the 1980s when I was Japanese Consul General in Hong Kong but I have completely forgotten my Mandarin; therefore, I will speak in English.

It is a great pleasure to welcome the exceptional Chinese actress Gong Li. She has delighted all of us at UNESCO by agreeing to become one of our Artists for Peace. I cannot think of a better choice for this ambassadorial role. Her international fame has already made Gong Li an outstanding cultural ambassador for her country. It is no small task to represent a nation as culturally rich as China. Gong Li is a dazzling representative of one of the world's great civilizations, a civilization whose five thousand year-old history has given humanity an extraordinary legacy of rich and diverse cultural heritage.

China is one of our Organization's closest partners in the field of cultural heritage. A total of 23 sites in China are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the Great Wall foremost among them. Chinese cinema is a worthy addition to that long creative tradition. The Chinese Cultural Week held here at headquarters last September was another landmark event attesting to China's creative vitality.

Gong Li has been described as one of the "best and most beautiful screen actresses of our time". She has enchanted the world with a combination of exquisite grace, strong personality and spell-binding acting, ever since she catapulted to international fame with her first lead role in Red Sorghum.

Gong Li, your many cinema awards attest to your foremost place in the film world. But I think for many of us here at UNESCO, the true revelation of your talent came with Qiu Ju, in which you were radiant as the simple peasant mother-to-be, seeking redress for injustice done to her husband. I know that you studied and acted that role with real empathy, with a deep respect for the Chinese peasant women whose ways, whose courage and whose strong sense of values you captured with such sincerity.

I also know that this sense of solidarity and social responsibility led you to take an active role as a member of the People's Consultative Assembly of China. It is extremely satisfying to see that the world's largest nation seeks the counsel of its artists on cultural policy issues and your commitment to public service is to be applauded.

I believe that this offers a natural bridge to the role you will be playing as a UNESCO Artist for Peace. You have expressed a deep interest in education and the environment; this will undoubtedly offer fertile ground for our future cooperation. Despite the demands of your acting career, you remained on the staff of China's Central Academy of Drama from which you yourself graduated and shot to fame. I am very pleased to think that our new Artist for Peace has also filled the role of teacher, educator. Here at UNESCO, we believe that education is the key to all development: individual, social and economic.

On being appointed President of the International Jury of the 50th Berlin Film Festival - the first Chinese cinema personality to occupy that prestigious position – you said: "We all have to learn from one another. Everyone working on a film is part of an international community. Cinema is a universal art form". Gong Li, you have made a major contribution to the universality of that art form. In your acting, you bridge cultures, language barriers and generations to communicate to world-wide audiences facets of human experience that are truly universal and it is precisely because of this contribution to cultural diversity, to understanding and harmony between peoples that UNESCO has called on your services as an Artist for Peace.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is UNESCO's mission to facilitate dialogue and mutual understanding between peoples. Through education, science, culture and communication, we try to fulfill our Constitutional goal of building peace in the minds of men and women everywhere. In this ambitious task, we rely on the help of many different partners. Among them are Goodwill Ambassadors and Artists for Peace. Leading international personalities can, through their influence and charisma, their fame and their audience, give extraordinary resonance to UNESCO's message. Gong Li, you have honored us by accepting this mission as an Artist for Peace. Your support for UNESCO activities will help us to reach all those who have been touched by the magic of your art. I would like to express my warmest thanks to you for agreeing to lend your talent and fame to this task. Please accept this "Artist for Peace" Diploma with my sincerest wishes for your new mission.