Our correspondent, Liu Siyang, visited the major exhibition spaces of Chengdu and selected three projects worth traveling here to see.
This city was recently known primarily as the home of pandas and spicy Sichuan cuisine, but today it is becoming one of China’s leading centers for contemporary art.
Что смотреть в Чэнду?
Pulse of Life, Chengdu Biennale 2026
Chengdu Art Museum
Until August 30, 2026
It’s best to start with the Tianfu Art Park International Biennale. Just a few years ago, this area was farmland, but today it houses Chengdu Art Museum, the city’s largest museum complex, which was built specifically for the Pulse of Life contemporary art biennale.
«Arcs in Disorder» by Bernard Venet
Upon entering, visitors are greeted by gigantic steel arches, Arcs in Disorder, by the French artist Bernard Venet. Fans of Soviet sculpture may find echoes of Vadim Sidur’s work in them. However, instead of human figures, Venet features massive, curved beams erected vertically. Walking a little further, by the lake shore, stands Moon Cocoon by the Chinese artist Huang Weixin—a vast, glowing sphere woven from thin metal rods. During the day, it is barely visible, but in the evening, the cocoon begins to glow and reflects in the water, becoming a metaphor for change and internal transformation.
But the most interesting part begins inside the museum. The first thing that captures attention is a video installation by the Russian art group AES+F Inverso Mundus («The Upside-Down World»). The artists reinterpreted medieval engravings where fish catch fishermen, donkeys control humans, and the familiar order of things is turned upside down, as if taken from a painting by Hieronymus Bosch.
Right nearby is a work by one of China’s most renowned contemporary artists, Xu Bing’s Square Word Calligraphy. From a distance, the viewer sees only Chinese characters. However, upon moving closer, it becomes apparent that these are English words rendered using the rules of Chinese calligraphy. Deciphering the text requires painstakingly unlocking each individual symbol.
∑ᵢ₌₁ⁿ P (memoryᵢ∣nightₜ) — Han Zhitun
A4 Art Museum
By August 9, 2026
If the Chengdu Art Museum required you to decipher Chinese characters, the A4 Art Museum presents a complex formula. The exhibition title alone resembles an excerpt from a university textbook on advanced mathematics. Inside, everything echoes a scientific laboratory. Enormous sheets of paper hang from the ceiling, densely covered in formulas, diagrams, and scientists' names to the point where individual words are sometimes impossible to distinguish. Nearby, display cases hold herbariums, archival documents, and peculiar objects, as if recently recovered from a scientific expedition.
The truth, however, is that this isn’t really academic work. All these subjects are necessary for an artist to investigate memory. Han Chitun blends real research with fictional narratives, showing how easily memories change over time and begin to accumulate fictional elements.
Heartland, Chen Xiulin
A Thousand Plateaus Art Space
Until August 30, 2026
While the Chengdu Art Museum showcases international art and the A4 Art Museum highlights the next generation of artists, the A Thousand Plateaus gallery focuses on established Chinese artists. Among them is Chen Qulin, who gained international recognition for her series of works on people displaced by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam.
In one hall, large photographs feature people standing amidst semi-ruined houses and wastelands. They are dressed in vibrant Sichuan opera costumes, which causes the documentary images to begin resembling a theatrical production. In another, there is a video where an artist captures a changing urban landscape: disappearing blocks, streets, and homes. Next to it are installations made from old furniture, doors, window frames, and everyday objects left behind by former residents.