The main entrance of Veranda Galley. (Photo: courtesy of Veranda Gallery)

On June 15, 2025,  Veranda Gallery in Haikou, opened its doors to an extraordinary exhibition: "Over Time", featuring the works of contemporary artist Karl Stengel. More than just an art show, this event serves as a powerful symbol of Haikou’s growing role in international cultural exchange and an artistic reflection on the enduring human questions of conflict, resilience, and peace.

Art Across Borders

Born in 1925 in Hungary and having lived for many years in Germany and Italy, Karl Stengel was an artist whose life and work were deeply shaped by the turbulence of the European 20th century. His art combines elements of German Romanticism and Expressionism, employing mixed media on paper to express the rhythms of life, the echoes of history, and the intensity of personal emotion and change through time. Spanning decades, the works on display in Haikou range from 1976 to 2013 and encompass a variety of styles and formats.

For many Chinese visitors, this is the first time encountering Stengel’s distinctive visual language. His abstractions, sketched in pencil and colored in bold hues, are rhythmic and dynamic, almost musical, a quality highlighted by exhibition curator Rosanna Ossola, who noted that music greatly influenced his work. Through recurring motifs and compositions, Stengel evokes inner emotional landscapes shaped by historical trauma. These themes resonate profoundly in today’s world, where conflict still disrupts communities and international understanding remains fragile.

The exhibition is co-organized by Veranda Gallery and the Galleria Immaginaria of Florence, Italy, directed by Francesco Giannattasio. The curator, Rosanna Ossola shared that the beauty and unique atmosphere of Haikou inspired her to choose this city for Stengel’s first exhibition in China.

Chen Ru, director of Veranda Gallery, expressed the museum’s vision clearly at the opening: "Our goal is to create a diverse and international platform for artistic exchange in Haikou, where audiences can engage with different cultural perspectives and where local artists can be inspired through contact with international masters."

A Reflection on War and Peace Through Art

During the opening ceremony, Zhou Jianhong, Vice President of the Hainan Fenhua Society and a former vice dean at Hainan Normal University, gave a thoughtful address reflecting on the deeper significance of Stengel’s art. Zhou emphasized the artist’s technical mastery, linking his technique to Chinese calligraphy’s rhythm and vitality and the traditions of the Renaissance, which flourished in Florence—the very home of the exhibition’s co-organizing gallery. Beyond technique, Stengel’s works breathe a layered, dynamic and transforming life experience, capturing the artist’s own struggle to reconcile inner peace and conflict in an immediate, direct manner. In 2025, a year that marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Stengel’s works carry even greater significance.

Untitled work by Karl Stengel, on display at Veranda Gallery in Haikou, Hainan. (Photo: Eva Molaro)

Born between two World Wars, Stengel is an artist who witnessed the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and many other historical events, internalizing the transformation and evolution of modern history. His abstractions, therefore, are not escapist, instead, they represent reality’s deep psychological impressions and emotional residue and an invitation to emotional projection. In this sense, the exhibition is a silent dialogue on war and peace, and the resilience derived from experience, told in strokes of pencil and swathes of color.

Global Art Exchanges

The fact that such a significant exhibition is being held in Haikou is itself symbolic of China’s evolving role in global cultural exchange. With its blend of colonial-era architecture and contemporary vision, Veranda Gallery exemplifies this shift. Hosting an exhibition by a Central European artist, supported by an Italian gallery, and curated for a Chinese audience, the gallery becomes a living testament to globalization—not in the commercial sense, but in a deeper, cultural and humanistic one. Additionally, this event opens the door for the future promotion of Chinese artists in Italy and other countries.

Today's global landscape is marked by renewed tensions: regional conflicts, ideological divides, and cultural misunderstandings persist despite technological and economic interconnectivity. In such a context, exhibitions like this offer a different kind of interaction—one based on empathy, reflection, and mutual respect.

The exhibition will remain open until July 15, giving Haikou residents and visitors a full month to experience this cross-cultural conversation. As the world continues to grapple with crises and confrontations, such cultural initiatives remind us of what is possible when we replace confrontation with collaboration, and suspicion with curiosity.