CRO PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT VISITS "SILK ROAD" EXHIBITION

ZAGREB, Sept 22 (Hina) - President of the Croatian parliament Vlatko Pavletic on Sunday visited the Chinese "Silk Road" exhibition recently opened in the Zagreb Mimara Museum, accompanied by Chinese Ambassador to Croatia Xie Xiqing and Chinese experts. The "Silk Road" includes 159 objects of applied art from museums of the Chinese provinces of Gansu and Ningxi and the ancient capital of Xian. The exhibits date back to the Neolithic ceramic cultures 400 BC to the last dynasty King (1644-1911). Pavletic told reporters that in the exhibition one could recognize similarities, because it showed the connection of civilizations, cultures and arts. In China walls were built as a protection from barbarians, but these walls were not an obstacle to the development of trade, to art crossing these walls and to the establishment of one of the most famous trade roads, the Silk Road. Pavletic praised the exhibits for their harmonious combination of functionality and beauty and expressed satisfaction that he visited the exhibition prior to a Croatian parliamentary delegation's visit to China. "We shall be able to learn and see more of this country with so many mysteries, so many values, which showed its friendship by recognizing Croatia as an independent country", said Pavletic. Ambassador Xie Xiqing said that Pavletic's visit to the exhibition and the Croatian parliamentary delegation's forthcoming visit to China confirmed the development of intense cooperation between China and Croatia, adding that the exhibition connected the two peoples. Pavletic was given a gift, a bronze replica of the exhibition's protection sign, a horse on a swallow. Last evening, Pavletic also visited the exhibition "Restoration Centre Ludbreg - Batthyany Castle", which is a joint project of Bavarian and Croatian experts opened in 1992 and today acts as an exposition of the Croatian Institute from Zagreb. The exhibition was opened as part of the Bavarian Week in Croatia. (hina) ha 221551 MET sep 96