SCULPTING MEMORY, PAINTING PEACE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SINO-RUSSIAN MEMORIAL ART ON THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY

This paper presents a comparative analysis of Chinese and Russian memorial art, grounded in the 2025 Sino-Russian Art and Culture Series at Tianjin University.Moving beyond a conventional East-West dichotomy, the study argues that while distinct foundational traditions persist -with Chinese art often anchored in narrative realism and Russian art in philosophical symbolism -a more significant and dynamic convergence is occurring in the contemporary realm.Through an examination of symposium discourses and exhibition artworks, this paper identifies a shared frontier of modern expression, where artists from both nations are actively employing abstraction, temporal dialogue, formal reconstruction, and new media to reinterpret historical memory.Ultimately, it contends that contemporary memorial art in China and Russia is collectively evolving from a commemorative function focused on the past towards a proactive, future-oriented practice of peace advocacy, thereby co-creating a transnational space for dialogue through aesthetic innovation.