BIMO: Insights from Chinese Art to Reflect on Today's World

Last May, the School of Architecture and the Main Library the University of Navarra hosted the second edition of congress A World 2.0 congress , part of a new edition of project BIMOproject , an initiative of the China Academy of Art, organized in partnership the School of Architecture research group , research Research Team: Theory and History (ART T&H).

The series of events kicked off with the exhibition : A World 2.0” (the contemporary world of brush and ink) at the Main Library. The sample the art of brush and ink as a vehicle to redefine the meaning and possibilities of the concept of bimo (brush and ink) in today’s global context. Based on the concept of “intentionality” (liyi), it explores the complex interactions between form, bodily experience, and spiritual perception through the relationship between “form” (xing) and “meaning” (yi) in the Chinese artistic tradition.

Far from viewing ink as a tradition or a cultural symbol, this project conceiving of bimo as a way of perceiving, thinking about, and experiencing the world. Bimo not only generates images but also articulates the body, emotions, and inner consciousness. This experimentation aligns with the research lines project School of Architecture project , which seeks to delve deeper into the aesthetics of architecture, as well as into possible artistic sensibilities and ways of representing reality.

Art as Dialogue

In addition to visiting the sample, researchers from the China Academy of Art participated in a roundtable held at the School of Architecture.

The panel consisted of CAO Yiqiang, professor of art history and director of the School of Arts and Humanities the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou; KONG Lingwei, professor at the China Academy of Art and Dean the School of Management and Education ; and CHEN Yongyi, curator and director of the Pan Tianshou Museum.

During his lecture , Professor Yiqiang Cao explained that artistic creation does not arise from isolated invention, but rather from the transformation of tradition. “Copying” the masters—as Pablo Picasso said—means internalizing their principles to make them one’s own, not merely reproducing forms. Using examples from European and Chinese painting, Yiqiang Cao demonstrated that true creativity “arises from a constant tension between heritage and innovation. In the Chinese tradition, this continuity is particularly evident in internship and the copying of the classics, conceived not as exercises in imitation but as forms of physical training that result in report .” In this sense, Cao succinctly expressed BIMO’s message: tradition remains alive only when it is internalized, transformed, and creatively projected into the present.

In his presentation, Professor Kong Lingwei focused on the line as an essential element and the origin of the so-called “brush method” (bifa). This visual language emerged from techniques of incising and carving on hard materials such as oracle bones, jade, and bronze, whose aesthetic qualities were later transferred to brushwork on silk and paper. Thus, “Chinese painting developed a unique tradition in which technique, material, and artistic sensibility transform one another,” he explained.

For her part, Professor Chen analyzed the work of artist Wu Yongliang and illustrated how contemporary Chinese painting can innovate while drawing on tradition. Through freehand line drawing, Wu integrated calligraphy, brushwork, and observation of nature, demonstrating that artistic renewal arises from the creative reinterpretation of classical principles.

Tradition and Modernity

In addition, the conversation featured remarks by Professor Laia Manonelles, an expert in Chinese art at the University of Barcelona, who analyzed the work of artist Yang Yongliang as a critical reinterpretation of urban transformation in China. Through digital photography, the artist combines the traditional aesthetics of shanshui with images of skyscrapers, infrastructure, and pollution, creating hybrid landscapes that, beneath a natural appearance, reveal the artificial and fragmented reality of modernity.

His work draws on the Chinese painting tradition in an allegorical way to reflect on the tension between the past and the present, nature and the city, reality and simulation.

Calligraphy: A Bridge Between Architecture and design

María Angélica Martínez, a professor at the School of Architecture the University of Navarra and a researcher with group research Team: Theory and History, explained that Chinese art—especially painting and calligraphy—serves as a fundamental reference point for architecture and design, as it strikes a balance between philosophical and aesthetic reflection and the practical needs of spatial organization. Martínez explained how “the exploration of abstraction, expressive potential, and the dynamics of movement present in calligraphy opens up a wide range of creative possibilities for students.”

Bimo in Action

The academic and exhibition components were rounded out with an internship activity internship the School’s studios, featuring a workshop in which—guided by Professor CAO Yiqiang, along with LIN Haizhong and MIN Xuelin, artists and professors at the School of Chinese Painting at the China Academy of Art—the students created their own works of art. To conclude the program, the artists worked in front of the participants to produce drawings and calligraphy pieces, which were later donated to the School of Architecture.