The personalities of puppets

Inside the main exhibition hall, a striking shadow puppet figure of the legendary female warrior, Mu Guiying, of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), towers several meters high. As sunlight filters through ornate lattice windows, its shifting reflections merge with the rippling water outside. Poised with spear in hand, the puppet almost appears alive. This piece, Peach Blossom Horse, now on show at Nanchizi Museum in Beijing, is the work of 56-year-old Wang Haiyan, a fourth-generation inheritor of Wang's Shadow Puppetry, a Huaxian shadow puppetry family versed in the national intangible cultural heritage from Huaxian county, Weinan, Shaanxi province. These inheritors, based in Xi'an, Shaanxi, are known for making shadow puppets, and especially for their carving skills.

Curated by Zhang Yuyang, Dian Xi Yi Ben — Shadow Puppetry and Contemporary Art Exhibition brings together contemporary artists and three generations of Wang's Shadow Puppetry in a display of paintings, sculptures and installations that reinterpret traditional shadow puppetry and paper-cutting.

"The goal is to translate traditional shadow puppetry and paper-cutting into a contemporary visual language," Zhang says. "By integrating modern aesthetics, the exhibition breathes new life into traditional art forms."