Chongqing - An ecological art exhibition featuring 150 works opened at the Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute on its Huxi Campus on Oct. 23, bringing together paintings, photography, video, sound art, installations, and digital media to explore the relationship between people and nature and how art can help the public understand environmental issues.

Titled Man and the Biosphere: A Touring Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Ecological Art Across Media, the exhibition is a 2026 project funded by the China National Arts Fund. Organized by the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, it is guided by the Chinese National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere Programme.

Visitors view a large-scale artwork featuring detailed illustrations at the ecological art exhibition in Chongqing. (Photo: LI, Xinyi)

The exhibition is divided into three sections exploring people's connections with nature, the ways living things coexist, and how art can shape our understanding of the future. Drawing on observations of the natural world, the works use different artistic approaches to examine these themes.

Some of the works were developed through field trips organized by Sichuan Fine Arts Institute to Xuebaoshan and Yintiaoling, two protected areas in Chongqing. Artists spent time observing the mountain landscapes, forests, plants, and wildlife, drawing on these observations and experiences in their artwork.

The region's natural environment also appears in individual exhibits. In Xuebaoshan Chuji, artist Pang Maokun depicts the mountains and forests of Xuebaoshan after rainfall. Another work by Wang Chaogang, Mijing: Xishan Qingyuan, presents an abstract, colorful landscape with branching pink lines. The work also incorporates materials such as leaves, branches, tiles, and jade into its composition.

Mijing: Xishan Qingyuan by artist Wang Chaogang is displayed at the Art Museum of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing. (Photo: LI, Xinyi)

Wang Chaogang, vice president of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and a participating artist, said at the opening ceremony that working in the nature reserves gave artists a chance to observe local ecosystems firsthand, rather than relying solely on photographs and other reference materials.

For Wang, ecological art is more than painting landscapes. It also raises questions about how humans understand the natural world and their place among other living things.

The exhibition also goes beyond painting and photography. Video and sound works offer different ways to experience natural environments, while virtual reality and interactive installations allow visitors to engage more directly with ecological themes.

Visitors explore a multi-screen installation featuring images of nature at the ecological art exhibition in Chongqing. (Photo: LI, Xinyi)

Rather than simply showing what nature looks like, the works encourage visitors to consider how ecosystems change, how species depend on one another, and how human activities affect the environment.

Zhang Ying, the exhibition's curator and executive deputy director of the Institute of Ecological Art and Sustainable Development at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, said at the opening ceremony that ecological art can do more than share knowledge or display creative work.

It can change how people experience the natural world, encouraging them to move from observation to concern and, eventually, participation. She also said art cannot replace scientific research or environmental protection efforts, but it can create more opportunities for people to understand, discuss, and engage with environmental issues.

Alongside the exhibition, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute is holding the second Forum on Ecological Art and Sustainable Development on Oct. 24 and 25. Under the theme "Ecological Perception, Cross-Sector Co-Creation", the event brings together artists, scientists, and educators to discuss how art, ecological research, and nature education can work together.

The keynote forum focuses on topics ranging from Yangtze River conservation and ecological photography to plant science communication and the role of art in addressing environmental issues. Other sessions cover biodiversity monitoring, environmental soundscapes, cross-media art, public participation, education, and youth innovation in sustainability.

Beyond the exhibition, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute has also explored how art can involve people who work closely with nature. One example is a community art project in Guizhou Province involving the institute's president, Jiao Xingtao.

Since 2012, Jiao and other artists from the institute have worked with local communities in Yangdeng, a town in neighboring Guizhou Province. Building on that work, the Yangdeng Art Association, the local forestry station, and teachers and students from the institute launched a forest ranger art project in 2025.

At the project's first gathering, 45 rangers were given sketchbooks and simple art supplies. They were encouraged to record what they encountered on their patrols, from plants and animals to changes in the weather and landscape, through drawings, notes, and other forms of expression.

One ranger, Chen Fangbi, struggled to draw a wild boar he had seen in the forest. The project team generated a cartoon image using AI to give him a reference. He then began drawing from his own memory of the animal.

For Jiao, the value of the project goes beyond the drawings. It gives rangers a way to share knowledge and experiences built up through years of working in the forest, while making their often-overlooked work more visible. Jiao also said such efforts require long-term support and scientific guidance, as observations made by forest rangers cannot replace professional scientific research.

The forum also brings an international perspective to discussions about art, nature, and environmental challenges.

French scholar Benoît Vermander, a professor at Fudan University, drew on the ancient Chinese text Tao Te Ching to explore the connection between traditional philosophy and sustainability.

Vermander said the text places particular importance on what sustains life and what threatens it. He pointed to moderation, flexibility, humility, and simplicity as values that help sustain life, in contrast with excess, rigidity, and conspicuous consumption. These ideas, he said, could provide an ethical foundation for sustainable development.

Vermander also sees artistic exchange as a way to bring people from different cultures together around environmental issues. With environmental challenges affecting countries across the world, he said, art allows people to share cultural traditions and their concerns about the environment, helping them develop a common language for discussing problems and possible solutions.

The Chongqing exhibition runs through Nov. 22 at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute Museum of Art. The tour is scheduled to continue at the Shanghai Baoshan International Folk Arts Expo from Dec. 27, 2026, to Jan. 27, 2027.