STORY: Young Nigerian's artwork finds place in Chinese space station
DATELINE: Sept. 12, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:52
LOCATION: Abuja
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Prosper Dania walking with his friend
2. various of Prosper Dania painting
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PROSPER DANIA, Nigerian artist
4. various of an artistic work by Prosper Dania
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): PROSPER DANIA, Nigerian artist
6. various of Prosper Dania receiving the award
7. various of Prosper Dania painting
8. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): PROSPER DANIA, Nigerian artist

STORYLINE:

Prosper Dania is a young Nigerian artist.

His artwork titled "Shared Aspiration" is among the artworks by African youths that were sent to China's orbiting Tiangong Space Station earlier this year by the Shenzhou crewed spacecraft.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): PROSPER DANIA, Nigerian artist
"Now, everybody has a dream of going to space. At night, we go out and look at the stars."

The 20-year-old created the artwork as an entry for an international painting competition organized by China in March.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): PROSPER DANIA, Nigerian artist
"The painting is intentional because it shows that this is a shared aspiration. It is every child's dream to go to space. And with the aid of cartoons and the rest, we see how space is being revealed. So, seeing my work in space is just crazy. It is really good to see."

Dania was invited to an awards ceremony for his painting in late May in Abuja by the Chinese Embassy.

The young Nigerian hoped more life-changing initiatives would continue to oil the wheel of progress in the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): PROSPER DANIA, Nigerian artist
"Art tells stories. So, even if I were to go to space to be able to tell a story to others, even if my work is already there, telling my story, I am there already."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Abuja.
(XHTV)