Sample some of da Vinci's genius

Pages from Codex Atlanticus are among the exhibits of Dialog with Leonardo da Vinci to mark the opening of the Tsinghua University Art Museum.

"The museum should not only be an alternative classroom for students, but must also be a landmark in Beijing, which people from across the country will come and visit," he adds.

To this end, he says, the museum will display a variety of artwork - from ancient to modern and from home and abroad - to engage a varied audience.

As for other events marking the TAM's official opening, there will be an exhibition of multimedia installations in which international artists use digital technology to create visual effects.

Feng also says the museum will have a venue devoted to developments in contemporary art.

The TAM was founded by the Tsinghua University Education Foundation, and Feng says the foundation will soon set up a council and advisory committee for the museum.

Separately, the museum's academic committee now comprises curators, professors and artists, including Chen Lyusheng, deputy director of the National Museum of China, and Xu Bing, an artist and a professor at Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts.