Greece holds the well-earned reputation of being one of the Mediterranean's cultural gems. It's the cradle of Western culture and a country famous for its antiquities. But what about Greece's contemporary art? It's a question residents of Beijing may soon be able to answer. That's because Greece's National Museum of Contemporary Art has brought some of its finest collections to the Chinese capital. CGTN's Sun Wei has more.

Unveiled on Tuesday afternoon at China's National Art Museum, the exhibition is titled 'In the Beginning was the Word; Concepts-Images-Scripts'.

It takes the shape of 80 selected works by 40 Greek and International artists from the permanent collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in the Greek capital, Athens.

SUN WEI BEIJING "Words are used to record thoughts, share ideas and carry forward language. The development of words and writing represents the historical course of a country. It is a character symbol of a nation. This display of Greek cultural symbols will also expose the audience to another glimpse of this ancient country."

The works on display try to examine issues of communication or use paper as their main material.

The show aims to explore the role of the written word, via its two oldest manifestations: images and writing. It's a poignant pairing in an age when so much of our communication tends to take on more immaterial forms.

Katerina Koskina, Director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens, says the event is an important program of cultural exchange between China and Greece.

The exhibition runs through January the 17th. of 2019. SW CGTN.