What's on

Mutual admiration

Qi Gong (1912-2005) and Xu Wuwen (1931-93) were both celebrated artists and scholars, and were versatile across various fields of classical art and culture. Despite living in separate cities — Qi Gong in Beijing and Xu in Chengdu, Sichuan province — they admired one another and maintained close contact over the years.

A Special Exhibition Celebrating the Artistic and Scholarly Kinship of Qi Gong and Xu Wuwen, now underway at Tsinghua University Art Museum, marks the two intellectuals' accomplishments in Chinese ink art, academic research, writing and teaching, as well as connoisseurship and authentication of classical artworks. The exhibition brings together paintings, calligraphic scrolls, manuscripts, and publications that embody their cultural legacy and lifelong devotion to preserving tradition. Running until Oct 19, it also reflects their moral integrity.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. Tsinghua University, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6278-1012.

Perspective of century

The career of Dai Ze (1922-2023), a longtime professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, mirrors the transformation of China's art world through the latter half of the 20th century. Trained in oil painting under a realism-oriented discipline, he created works that addressed social change and collective memories, while simultaneously developing a personal style to express his own vision.

The exhibition I Come With the Trend, now on at Shenzhen Art Museum, presents both sides of Dai's work: the collective narrative in his history-themed paintings and individual exploration in still-lifes and landscapes, spanning ink paintings, oil canvases and watercolors. His mastery of technique is evident across these varied forms, unified by his pursuit of refinement and innovation. The exhibition runs until Nov 9.

10 am-6 pm, closed on Mondays. 30 Tenglong Lu, Longhua district, Shenzhen, Guangdong province.0755-2806-2004.

Fanning a fashion

Exquisite hand fans, a hallmark of Chinese workmanship, played a significant role in maritime trade with Western markets from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. Chinese Export Fans in the 18th-20th Centuries, an exhibition at the Zhengzhou Museum, Henan province, explores this exchange between the East and the West through a selection of finely made folding fans for daily use. It runs till Oct 26.

The pieces, made for export and now in the Guangdong Museum's collection, were crafted primarily by artisans in Guangdong, a key hub of foreign trade. Made from materials such as paper, silk, shells, gold, silver, and scented woods, the fans blend Chinese artistry with Western tastes. They depict European landscapes, figures, coats of arms, and motifs, while also incorporating Chinese decorative elements that catered to the Western imagination of China at the time.

9 am-6 pm, daily, before Sept 1. 9 Wenhan Jie, Zhongyuan district, Zhengzhou, Henan province. 0371-6771-1767.