Brush masterstroke

When staff at the Adelaide Festival Centre were looking for someone who knew Chinese calligraphy to create a foyer display to promote Cursive, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s Chinese calligraphy-inspired production, they didn’t need to look very far - they found the National Chinese Calligraphy Competition gold medallist right here in Adelaide.

Zhang Yun, a UniSA Master of Management (Tourism and Hospitality) student, was only four years old when he learnt Chinese calligraphy from his mother. At the tender age of 10, he won the most prestigious of his nation’s calligraphy competitions.

But it is only one of some 90 prizes he has won in international, national and provincial calligraphy competitions.

Zhang is something of a celebrity in China, having appeared in numerous television and newspaper reports about his prowess with a brush.

"At 15, I was invited by the Japanese government to represent Chinese middle school students," Zhang says, "and I did calligraphy performances and presentations there for 10 days.

"And in 2005, I was invited by local Chinese community to do calligraphy presentations in Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines."

But a highlight for Zhang - who once worked as a journalist with China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and TV, and whose bachelor degree is in linguistics - was his first exhibition with his mother, Zhao Qiuping, professor of art at Xi’an University.

While he is passionate about calligraphy as an enjoyable pastime and something he is very skilled in, Zhang has his eyes fixed on a longer-term goal.

"I would love to work in Australia after graduating in the tourism or hospitality field," he says.