Hello and welcome to another edition of Africa Express here on China Radio International. I'm your host, Wei Tong.

Nine Irish artists have recently put together a collection of their works in Beijing. Entitled "Made in Ireland", all the paintings created by them share the theme of nature and how this relates in particular to Ireland.

What caught my attention at first glance were the two works by Pauline Flynn. These oil paintings use dark blue as the theme colour, on which lines and curves, symbolic of waves, are intertwined. The works look quite abstract, similar to a three-dimensional picture.

"They are about the experience of water, more than about painting water as such. When I was a child, I used to swim in a river. I would sit on the bottom of the river and look back up at the sun breaking through the water under the reflection of a stone. So these paintings for me are a little bit like sitting under water."

Pauline began her art career as a sculptor rather than a painter. Not until 1987 when she was funded to further study in Japan did she discover colour and the aesthetics of the Orient. From then on, she shifted her interest to painting, especially the abstract form.

"I am an abstract artist. I'm not interested in painting figurative works because I think a camera can take more interesting figurative works than a painter. Abstraction helps me to develop my understanding of life."

I've also met another painter whose paintings are realistic and reflect the true picture of past and present Ireland, completely different from the abstract works of Pauline Flynn.

"My name is Mary Yorke. I am an artist living and working in Dublin, the capital of Ireland."

In one of Mary's works, a four-arch bridge spans across a broad and serene river that connects several typical Irish cottages on one side to an ancient castle on the other. Mary tells me that she selects architecture, especially bridges, as the theme of her works since she can draw much inspiration from them.

"Bridges are symbolic. They don't just represent a structure. They span something. The things that are on one side of a river may not be necessary on the other side. So no matter how different thing on one side, there can be extremely different things on the other side."

Mary treats painting as her lifelong career. She says all her anxieties, agonies and worries disappear as long as she's working on paintings.

"Because when I am painting, I am totally engrossed on which colour I am using and I forget everything that is going on. I work in my garden. I can hear the birds singing, wind going through the trees. I can think only about what I am doing, and it is meditation for me. It makes me happy."

This is Mary's first trip to China. She visited the top natural beauty spot of Guilin, which she said deeply captivated her. She expects to draw some realistic paintings of Guilin after she goes back to Ireland.

The exhibition has attracted many Western painting enthusiasts. Here is Guan Donghai from a prestigious Chinese arts academy.

"The paintings of the nine artists vary in style. Some are abstract while others are realistic. But they are all created out of the painters' profound love for their motherland. The painters are not restricted to a certain range but draw what they like. That is what we should learn. As a teacher, I think we shall leave our students more space for imagination and creativity."

Michael Ahern, minister for Innovation Policy of Ireland highlights that the exhibition helps enhance mutual understanding between Chinese and Irish people.

"I think the Chinese will understand the paintings we have. They are more about landscapes, portraits rather than modernists. The significance of (this exhibition) is that people get to know the culture, people can understand other nations better when they see what the culture in the past has been, so that people can understand it more deeply."

The exhibition was funded by Culture Ireland, an Irish body which promotes Irish art abroad. And the works have been exhibited in a number of art galleries in both Beijing and Shanghai. After the tour, they will be auctioned, money raised from the sale will be used to preserve and promote Irish culture.

Now that wraps up this edition of Africa Express . If you would like to listen to this or other stories again, please log onto our website at: www.crienglish.com. I'm Wei Tong. I hope you can tune in to out program again next time. Bye for now!