People explore the Jining Art Museum in Shandong Province on Saturday. Photo: Courtesy of Jining Art Museum

People explore the Jining Art Museum in Shandong Province on Saturday. Photo: Courtesy of Jining Art Museum

China is back on the way to fully reopening its indoor museums, galleries and art institutions after the country downgraded its last high-risk region on Sunday. Currently, the entire Chinese mainland is on low alert for COVID-19. 

The Jining Art Museum has reopened to the public on Saturday in East China's Shandong Province with a completely new oil painting exhibition. 

The Chinese Contemporary Realistic Art exhibition, which is scheduled to run for two months, features works from veteran artists such as Xu Qingfeng, Li Wentao and Cai Jie as well as several young and promising painters.  

More than 100 oil paintings from a total of 53 artists covering a variety of themes from simple portraits to scenes from daily life present a short review of the development of realistic painting in China. 

According to the organizers, contemporary realistic paintings have become a fundamental part of Chinese painting. 

The preface of the exhibition noted that it is significant to hold such an exhibition in Jining, often considered a Holy Land for being the birthplace of Confucius and an important stop along the Grand Canal, the ancient man-made waterway that connects Beijing and the East China city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. 

In terms of paintings, Xu has brought his series of patriotic representations of ethnic minority girls, Ren Zhizhong is showcasing his Impression Russia series presenting the landscapes of Russia and Li Yang seeks to use his works to remind people of the joys of the harvest season.  

Mo Han, one of the participant artists, explained that while his paintings present a Western style, they also incorporate traditional Chinese elements from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1642) wood carving and characters from ancient folk tales.      

The exhibition comes after the newly opened museum was named as one of the top 10 museums and cultural venues of 2019 by designboom.com. 

Designed by Japanese architect Ryue Nishizawa, the single-story building is situated next to a lake and conforms to the surrounding environment through the use of indoor spaces that are connected by glass corridors, semi-outdoor areas and external plazas. Additionally, the building also uses bricks similar to those used in the local Temple of Confucius to more strongly connect the museum and the local culture.