Art beat in August

Works by Yuri Kalyuta, Russia's noted realism painter and gold-medal winner at the first Beijing International Art Biennale, are on display in Guangdong Museum of Art until Aug 5. The professor from the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg loves Chinese traditional culture. People will be impressed by his use of the red color. His freehand brushwork makes his oil paintings natural and poetic.

9 am-5 pm, daily except for Mondays, until Aug 5. Guangdong Museum of Art, 38 Yanyu Lu (Road), Ersha Island, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou. 020-8735-1468.

Date: Aug 5 — 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Venue: China Cultural Center in the Beijing Maple Drive (cinema complex at 21 Liangmaqiao)

Workshop Leaders: Chris Verrill, Director of Robin Hood. Verrill has done more than 60 shows, totaling more than 2,000 performances. He also directed Beijing Playhouse productions of Guys and Dolls, A Christmas Carol, Love Sex and the IRS, and Romeo and Juliet.

Workshop Focus: If you've never done theatre before, this workshop will teach you some of the fundamentals of auditioning for a stage play.

Language and Age: All levels of skill and proficiency are welcome

Contact: performance@beijingplayhouse.com

Farmland warriors

With the world's highest farm output, China's farmers keep really busy. But that hasn't come in the way of them capturing their lives on camera. An exhibition of more than 10,000 photographs taken by some 580 farmers is underway. The images cover subjects such as their hometowns, "left-behind" children and their grandparents and new generations of farmers in urban centers. Many of the pictures speak of the farmer's concerns with their children's education and how they struggle to integrate into city life.

9 am-5 pm, until Aug 6. China Photography Exhibition Center, 2 Beisanhuan Zhong Lu (Road), Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6525-5014.

Toxic tree

A rare and poisonous tree at Chenshan Botanic Garden has bloomed and is growing seeds for the fi rst time. Antiaris toxicaria Lesch is known as bark cloth tree in English, and the “poison arrow tree” in Hainan province, because the Li people traditionally used its toxic resin on their arrowheads. Despite the fact that its branches, leaves and roots are all extremely poisonous, the tree is safe as long as you don’t touch it with an open wound.

9 am-5 pm, Aug 6, Chenshan Botanic Garden, 3888 Chenhua Highway, Songjiang district, 021- 3779-2288 60 yuan