The Sculpture Invitation Exhibition of the Countries along the Belt and Road hosted by the Chinese Urban Sculpture Artists Association and Qingdao Municipal People’s Government took place in the Qingdao Sculpture Gallery．

According to Wu Weishan， the curator of the National Art Museum of China and the chairman of the Chinese Urban Sculpture Artists Association， over150 pieces of works are on display and over130 sculpture artists respectively make them from China and21 different countries along the Belt and Road． Although they are of different cultures， national identities and aesthetic mentality， all of them take the form of sculpture art to co－shape the spirit of the Belt and Road．

It is said that on August2016， Qingdao has successfully held the“New Silk Road Dialogue ·Eastern and Western Sculpture Works Exhibition” themed on the Belt and Road． After planning and organizing for one year， the Sculpture Invitation Exhibition of the Countries along the Belt and Road will become more open－minded and profound， which will provide new modes and inspirations for sculpture creation， mutual learning among civilizations and international exchanges． Li Deyin （The sculpture exhibition has attracted the attention of Chinese and foreign visitors．）

Delicate reliefs are engraved out of cooper sheets

62－year－old Li Keda， who has made the iron picture for over30 years， is an authentic Qingdao expert in iron picture．

In the studio， there are many well－processed bronze reliefs． Pieces of bronze reliefs are very vivid and impressive． They include a dignified Guan Gong， amiable figures of Buddha， smart and beautiful maid and lifelike flowers and birds． All of them are not only very vivid， seemingly alive， but also can be collected permanently．

Influenced by his father when he was a kid， he started learning the art of iron picture at the age of about10 and quickly grasped the skill of making iron picture． In1989， he worked in a mold factory． For a certain time， the factory mainly produced bronze hotpot． He really thought it was a waste to throw away the bronze scrapes． Therefore Li Keda started trying to make pictures with bronze instead of white iron， added the skill of carving and relief and finally he has created the bronze relief with his own characteristics．

“There are dozens of procedures to make bronze reliefs including choosing raw materials， cutting materials， composition， annealing， forging， engraving， welding， polishing and framing． Every step cannot afford to be careless． Otherwise the works will have defects．” According to Li Keda， to make a bronze relief， firstly compose a picture； choose high quality cooper material， the best cooper sheet is0．4 to0．5mm thick； after annealing cooper sheet， soften the cooper for engraving； put the claborate－style painting onto cooper sheets and engrave them with different sizes of drills． At least1，000 taps will be needed on average to make delicate patterns， weld and fit together the well engraved cooper sheets and then polish and frame it． At this stage， a stereoscopic exquisite bronze relief is finished．

After retirement， Li Keda opened up a studio． This way he has more time to study bronze reliefs， he also can teach young people free of charge the skill of making bronze reliefs． Ma Bingzheng

（1． Li Keda is making bronze reliefs．2． Polishing bronze reliefs．3．The bronze relief named Two Dragons Playing with A Pearl．）