A post for the exhibition  Lunar Samples No. 001: Witness of China's Space Dream [Photo/chnmuseum.cn]

The traditional Chinese Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, will begin on Sunday this year.

As the temperature rises, it is not only a solemn festival for sweeping tombs and offering sacrifices to ancestors, but also a festival for people to get close to nature, go on outings and enjoy the spring.

The three-day festival is just around the corner. Besides going on outings, there is another choice for you --- fascinating art exhibitions.

1. Lunar Samples No. 001: Witness of China's Space Dream

Exploring the vastness of the universe is the common dream of mankind. The Chang'e-5 return capsule landed safely on earth with a payload of 1,731 grams of lunar samples on Dec 17, 2020, representing China's first successful return of samples from an extraterrestrial celestial body.

The National Museum of China is holding an exhibition centered on Lunar Samples No. 001, displaying more than 40 scientific and technological objects related to the lunar exploration program, supplemented by a large number of pictures, dynamic images and videos.

If you go

Venue: West Hall, National Museum of China

No. 16 East Chang'an Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100006

Time: 9:00 to 17:00 (last admission at 16:00) and closes on Monday (except statutory holidays)

[Photo/ucca.org.cn]

2. Silent Thunder

The UCCA Center for Contemporary Art presents, Silent Thunder, a group exhibition examining the links between Buddhism and contemporary art in China, interrogating the concept of "Buddhist art" as a whole. It is open until May 23.

The four artists featured in the exhibition approach Buddhism from varying angles, some earnestly engaging with faith and belief, while others utilize religious iconography as an entry point into broader social and historical questions. From these different perspectives, the artists use sculpture, installation, painting, and other media to propose how Buddhist and Chan art might be reimagined, at once bypassing and implicitly responding to external frames for understanding Buddhism.

If you go

Venue: UCCA Beijing, 798 Art District

No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Road Chaoyang District, Beijing 100015

Time: Monday to Sunday, 10:00 – 19:00 (last entry at 18:30)