the random oracle

So in my last week here I’ve decided to take in a few of the many museums in Beijing.  I’d originally wanted to see the National Museum (国家博物馆), which is a propaganda-laden history museum with (I’m sure) spectacularly lavish exhibits showing how the Communist party liberated China and repelled the Japanese.  But alas it was closed for renovations and new installations, so I had to find something else.

My first stop was the Chinese Art Museum (中国美术馆), which hosts a collection that spans much of China’s history.  On display on the ground floor were works from the “Beijing Biennial”, someof which I found pretty cool.  One work I liked in particular was the “Finger-guessing Game (石头，前子，布)”.  I could understand two of the dates, but the rest were a mystery.

Here are some other works that I found interesting there:

Next was the Capital Museum (首都博物馆), which is a beautiful building west of Tiananmen Square.  They were holding a temporary exhibition called China’s Memories (中国记忆).  The museum mostly houses works that were found or composed in Beijing, though some are brought in from outside.  The temporary exhibition had many works from all over the country.

Last was the Today Art Museum (今日美术馆), which obviously is a contemporary museum.  The main building was closed when I got there, but the second building was housing an exhibition on Sports and the Olympics.