As a project of collection exhibitions from the country’s museum sponsored by the Ministry of Culture in 2013, an exhibition called “Heading for the west” is currently on display at the museum in a bid to showcase collections from the National Art Museum of China.

The western region, place of origin of the Chinese civilization, boasts ancient splendid culture and is rich in natural resources. However, in modern times, the western region was isolated due to its remote location. Since the 1930s especially after New China was founded, the art about the western region entered a new era with great attention by the Party and the government. The artists have travelled toward the west in an organized way or spontaneously for artistic creation. 

The exhibition showcases a total of more than 150 pieces of artworks about the western region, covering a wide range of such categories as the traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings, the engraved paintings, the sculptures and comic strips. The show is intended to reflect an important artistic phenomenon of the artists moved forward the western region in different periods of the 20th century and explore important meaning and value of artistic creation of the western region in the history of the Chinese art in the 20th century.