03 / Serial Exhibition on Cross-Cultural Communication Enrichment Between the East and the West

Civilizational Dialogue: Eastern Calligraphy & Painting and Western Artistic Innovation

Dates: August 22 – September 22, 2026
Venue: DDS, North Tower, CP Center, Beijing CBD
Status: Opening exhibition · Opens in August

The series opens with calligraphy and painting: a painter who gives Eastern spirituality a contemporary voice through traditional sacred imagery and the aesthetics of xieshen — "depicting the spirit" — placed side by side, in one space, with a multimedia artist whose mixed-material paintings refract civilizations across the globe.

Two profoundly different artistic languages point to the same question: how can spiritual experience be made visible today?

EAST · Eastern Roots

Wang Changli

Pioneer of Palace Museum cultural creations

State-gift painter for the Ziguang Pavilion, Zhongnanhai
Creator of the xieshen ("depicting the spirit") school of painting
Key collaborating artist of Palace Museum cultural creations
Thirty-three Guanyin and monumental sacred-image series

Through traditional sacred imagery, Palace Museum heritage and the aesthetics of xieshen, the work gives Eastern spirituality a contemporary expression. Paintings are held in royal collections in Thailand and the Middle East.

WEST · Western Vision

Li Ruoheng

Co-builder of global civilizational dialogue

Among the most collectible emerging contemporary artists
BFA in Fine Art, ArtCenter College of Design (USA)
MA in Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art (UK)
Has lived and travelled in more than 20 countries

Records people, cities, ideas and life through painting, photography, video, installation and writing — mixed-material paintings that refract civilizations worldwide.