British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited an art exhibition titled "Asian Field" in Guangzhou Monday afternoon. 

The immense sculpture exhibit consists of 192,000 hand-sized clay figures made by over 300 residents of the Huadu District in the north-east of Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong Province. The work was carried out by artists of all ages in January 2003 under the guidance of British artist Antony Gormley.

Thirty students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts were responsible for arranging the clay figures on the vast floor of the exhibition hall of China's National Museum in the most beautiful ways imaginable. The Beijing exhibition will officiallyopen on July 27 and last for one month.

Entering the exhibition hall with his wife Cherie, Blair smiledand shook hands with some of the students. He showed keen interestin the clay figures, bending to touch them from time to time.

"It is a great project, and it is amazing," said Blair, lookingat the mass of simply-formed figures in varying shades of orange, red and brown clay.

"Each of these pieces is completely individual, and I think this is a kind of liberation of the clay," said artist Gormley.

However, the building of the figures through collaborative efforts had radically expanded art from being simply a form of self-expression to one of collective consciousness, Gormley said.

Gormley said he chose China as the site for the project becauseof its long history, vast territory and increasing influence. "In this project, I also found the country's enormous energy," he said.

Formed from over 100 tons of clay, the figures took five full days to complete. The Asian Field was first exhibited in Guangzhouin mid-March 2003. It is also scheduled to tour Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing during the year.

Gormley joked with Blair that the project had cost British taxpayers a significant sum of money. "But it is worth it," said Blair without hesitation.

According to an official of the British Embassy, the Asian Field is a major component of "Think UK", a huge initiative organized by the British Council and the British Government designed to bring the best of British originality, creativity and innovation to China in 2003. The activities also aim to strengthenlinks between young people in the two countries, said the official.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2003)