Yunnan's modern art

An ongoing exhibition for modern and contemporary art from Yunnan province at National Museum of China offers visitors a chance to trace back the active art trends in the remote, landlocked province, best known for its rich and diverse ethnic cultures and tropical sceneries.

The exhibition presents some 60 representative works from 47 artists from the province with Western influence from as early as 1910.

Over the last century, Yunnan artists have been exploring and experimenting. The climax came in the 1980s when a bunch of local artists, including Zhang Xiaogang and Mao Xuhui, churned out pioneering works that won critical acclaim from across the country and eventually gained international recognition. They were widely considered leading figures of the 1985 Art Movement, the most significant phenomenon in the development of contemporary Chinese art in the 20th century.

Even today, artists born in the 1980s and even 1990s are gaining a firm foothold in the national art scene.

"As the starting point of the ancient tea route, the country's gate to South Asia, and home to a dozen ethnic groups who have lived together peacefully for centuries, Yunnan province has been an ideal place for Chinese modern and contemporary art to grow," Mao Xuhui says.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays, until Oct 28. National Museum of China, 16 East Chang'an Dajie, Dongcheng district. 010-6511-6400.

- Zhu Linyong