A multimedia exhibition on Bernhard Arp Sindberg, a Dane who helped save Chinese lives during the Nanjing Massacre, opened at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing City on February 19.

Sindberg came to China at the age of 26 seeking adventure, and eventually found a job as a watchman at the Jiangnan Cement Factory, run by a Danish firm. In 106 days during the bitter winter of 1937 and 1938, along with a German colleague Karl Gunther, Sindberg established a make-shift camp for Chinese civilians inside the cement plant, ran a small field-hospital for the wounded and tried to provide food and other supplies to the refugees.

To mark Sindberg’s 110th birthday, students and teachers at Jiangsu Second Normal University made new art creations based on the massacre and a play co-authored by Chinese and French writers. The exhibition depicts Sindberg’s heroic acts in Nanjing through innovative water-colour painting and digital media.

Zhang Yi, a student of the university, said that the exhibition is expected to help more people be aware of the power of humanity, the role of Sindberg who linked Denmark and Nanjing closely, and support the cooperation and friendship between the two countries.

Zhang Jianjun, curator of the memorial hall, said he hopes this exhibition can inspire more visual creations that explore historic topics and also resonate well with communication methods in the digital era. This kind of new creation will help preserve our shared memory and contribute to the country’s development.

Photo/Wan Chengpeng

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