An exhibition entitled “Rituals of Signs and Metamorphosis” has opened at Beijing's Red Brick Art Museum, featuring works by 10 renowned artists from different corners of the Asian continent and exploring different types of metamorphosis.

This poetic journey leads us to question the certainty of narratives, provokes reflections and ideas, and sparks the desire to seek out divinatory signs.

According to its curator Tarek Abou El Fetouh, “Rituals of Signs and Metamorphosis” aims to create a collective dialogue in a space where various critical and methodological approaches converge to shift rigid patterns of perception and induce intuitive ones.

"This time is a group exhibition of ten artists from different corners of Asia, of the Asian continent. And the challenge is, of course, I have to read a lot about Asian philosophy. I felt very lucky to get to know so many things that I didn't know before. And I started to read about the Book of Changes in the Asian philosophy and many other things," he said.

The journey begins with Anish Kapoor's installation Descension, a giant pool of spiraling water. 

It confronts the audience with a perpetual force that pulls down into an unknowable depth. 

Director of the Red Brick Art Museum says installing the pool was quite a challenge. He said: ”Because of the geographical conditions here, we have to calculate carefully to put the installation in place, without damaging the museum structure or the underground sewage system. Fortunately, we have a very professional team and the result as you can see is stunning.” 

The exhibition also sees Kora created by artist Jawshing Arthur Liou from Taiwan. 

In Kora, Liou documents his pilgrimage in Tibet, in a quest for sanctuary following the death of his young daughter Vivian from leukemia in 2007. 

For Liou, bringing this installation to Beijing completes the circle. 

"The concept of Kora is a Tibetan pilgrimage which is about walking in a circular motion around a sacred site. My Kora was performed around a sacred mountain in western Tibet. It was inspired by a Tibetan singer right after my daughter's passing. In many wasy, the journey started in Lhasa, but I did need to come to Beijing to stage my pilgrimage. So it's very special for me to bring the pilgrimage to Beijing for the first time. As an artist from Taiwan, I'm also excited about showing my work in Beijing," Liu shared with CGTN.

Other installations include Tightrope, a video by artist Taus Makhacheva.

It features a tightrope walker crossing a canyon in the highlands of the Caucasus Mountains, using copies of artwork by various Dagestani artists as a balancing pole.

Through this risky action, Makhacheva comments on the precarious situation of museums and artists around the world, using intriguing images of artwork that seems out of place, in strong contrast to the captivating and vast landscape.

The exhibition runs until April 7, 2019, at the Red Brick Art Museum.