Promotion material for Ophiolite exhibition in Beijing Photo: Courtesy of the French Embassy in Beijing

Ophiolite, a type of green rock with serpentinite textures, is also the name of an ongoing exhibition in Beijing displaying artworks by creators from China and France and showing how today's art world has embraced ecological and environmental issues.

Co-organized by the French Embassy in China and the Jonathan KS Choi Foundation, the exhibition at the Choi Centre is a highlight event for the 2023 Croisements Festival, the biggest China-France cultural gala of the year. 

The exhibition features works from Adrien Missika, a French creator living in Berlin and a Chengdu-based art group formed by two Chinese artists: Cao Minghao and Chen Jianjun. 

Water System Refuge, a research-based project created by the creative duo is a highlight of the show. 

In collaboration with people of the Qiang people - an ancient ethnic group largely based in Southwest China's Sichuan Province - the artistic pair used audio-visual representations to document the Qiang people's inherited wisdom on climate change and shaping the local landscape. 

Li Xue, a young artist, told the Global Times that, "A country with rich and various indigenous cultures, like China, is very inspiring and helps artists find their creative footing,"

Meanwhile, Missika's artwork Cura (lit: Cure) provides earnest "therapies" such as wiping off dirt from street plants to improve an urban city's concrete jungle. 

Missika's artworks are concise yet profound when compared to the Chinese pair's "epic-like narration," said Zhang Yichuan, an art researcher and the exhibition's tour guide.