The 2023 ANOBO International Children's Tech and Art Traveling Exhibition has chosen "One Tree One World" as its theme for this year. The exhibition draws inspiration from the diverse meanings of "tree", aiming to encourage children to connect their everyday experiences with global issues. The various interpretations of "tree" are conveyed to the audience through interactive art forms. In addition to showcasing art creations, technological experiences, and scientific knowledge, the exhibition also incorporates the essence of Chinese culture and human civilizations to enhance children's understanding of concepts such as sustainable development, environmental protection, cultural preservation, and the shared destiny of humanity.

On July 10, 2023, The One Tree One World ANOBO International Children's Tech and Art Traveling Exhibition opened in Beijing. 

Ms. Baitong Yan, education curator, interdisciplinary artist, and the founder of ANOBO

Ms.Yan introduced the planning of this tech-art integrated exhibition, which is a collaborative effort between children and artists. This exhibition is a continuation of the "One World" theme in 2021 and "A Drop of Water with One World" in 2022. This year, the exhibition aims to further promote social innovation in global competence education for children. Significant improvements have been made in project-based course design, the development of exhibition teaching aids, and the creation of scene-based teaching experiences. The exhibition not only provides interactive experiences for children and educational guidance for parents but also creates a highly parent-child friendly interactive space. 

As part of the ongoing Children's Global Competence Summit initiated by ANOBO, a panel discussion revolved around "Public and Social Education Development" was held on the opening day. Yin Shaochun, Zhen Wei, Yang Lan, Ji Pengcheng, and Yan Baitong participated in the panel.

"Public and Social Education Development" Panel Dicussion

From left to right:

Ji Pengcheng, the director of China World Art Museum; Yang Lan, the Vice President of China Charity Alliance, Founder and Chairperson of Sun Media Group and Sun Culture Foundation; Yin Shaochun, professor at the School of Fine Arts of Capital Normal University and the director of the Children's Art Committee of the China Artists Association; Zhen Wei, the head of the Beijing Normal University (BNU)-ANOBO Children's Global Competence Research Committee and a professor at the School of Arts and Communication of Beijing Normal University; Yan Baitong,  education curator, interdisciplinary artist, and the founder of ANOBO

This year, ANOBO invites several internationally renowned artists and partners to paticipate in the exhibition and co-create with young artists. Some highlight artworks and projects include Xu Bing's Forsest Project, Olafur Eliasson's Earth Speakr, Alexander Dang's Mechanical Flowers and the The Tree of Future collaborated with Microsoft Research Asia：

Xu Bing, one of the most renowned contemporary artists and professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Widely recognized as a significant conceptual artist in the realm of linguistics and semiotics, he was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship "Genius Grant" in 1999. In 2004, Xu received the inaugural Artes Mundi International Contemporary Art Prize. Xu’s works have been exhibited in art institutions such as the National Art Museum of China, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum, the British Museum, and the Venice Biennale.

Forest Project was initially conceived in 2005 when Xu Bing visited Kenya for the Human/Nature, a collaborative project by the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Arts, the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film archive, and international conservation organization Rare. It is an art experiment project of a self-circulating system that channels funds from affluent areas to places where trees are needed. By selling children’s works, Forest Project transforms trees created by children on paper into real trees. The proceeds of selling children's drawings of trees, both online and offline, will be used for tree planting and afforestation efforts in remote areas.

Portrait of Olafur Eliasson

Photo: Lars Borges, 2020

© 2020 Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1967, and graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1995 before setting up his own studio in Berlin, Germany. Since 1997, his large-scale solo exhibitions, comprising installations, paintings, sculptures, photographs, and films, have been featured at major art fairs and renowned art museums worldwide, including the Venice Biennale, Tate Modern in London, the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. Eliasson's notable works include The Weather Project New York City Waterfalls, Your rainbow panorama, and The Waterfall Swing. In 2019, Eliasson was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for renewable energy and climate action by the United Nations Development Programme.

Earth Speakr is an artwork started by Olafur Eliasson on the occasion of the German

Presidency of the Council of the EU 2020. Using augmented reality, kids around the world could record their ideas about the wellbeing of our planet with a free app. The artist invites kids to care about their surrounding environment, and to think from the perspective of all beings and matters on the earth. Through the tech and art integrated artistic practice, children proactively express their opinions clearly, confidently, while actively addressing environmental issues thus enhancing their consciousness of sustainable development.