Facing other cultures

In the Chinese section, one will find artworks like those of Feng Yuan and He Jiaying, which carry on a realistic style and the traditions of classic Chinese ink art, as well as productions by younger artists like Li Tianyuan and Peng Wei, who seek a new identity in an increasingly urbanized, internationalized country.

Svetlana Gracheva, the curator of the Russian section, says the Russian works at the exhibition include paintings, lithographs and sculptures by 10 artists that portray different people, the old and the young, celebrities and minor figures.

"I believe they reveal the philosophy of art," she says. "Artists show in their work a travel of time and space and also, a voyage to the inside world of human beings."

Su notes that all of the featured Russian artists received training at the time-honored Repin Institute, of which the systematic disciplines also constitute an aspect of the rich culture these artists display in their works.