Mask by Xiong Weiming Photo: Li Yi?

April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, and to mark the occasion the Inside-Out Art Gallery in Haidian district is holding Au/rTISTIC, an "Artistic or Autistic" children's painting exhibition.

Organized by the Beijing Association for Rehabilitation of Autistic Children, more than 200 paintings are displayed, chosen from 800 paintings drawn by over 80 children from all over the country aged from 5 to 22. "This is the fourth session of the autistic children's artwork exhibition in Beijing," said Rika Ishihara, a member and full-time volunteer in the association. "Different from the last three sessions, we covered a wider area when gathering those paintings; second and third tier cities were included. Viewers can buy those paintings; we want more children to know that we value them."

According to Rika, although autistic children are often afraid of changing circumstances and reluctant to communicate with others, they are often talented, especially in art. "We call them the innocent painters," Rika continued, "they just draw whatever they want, although some of them are in their 20s, we call them children because the way they think about things still lags behind the average children of the same age."

"I am proud of my daughter," said Lin Jie, one of the curators, mother of 16-year-old autistic girl Qianqian who designed the avatar for the Association's microblog, a Van Gogh-style sunflower. "She uses propylene and oil paints to draw; you can't tell what she is drawing but it's good to see the restless Qianqian become quiet."

Part of the money from sales of the paintings will be donated to the association to start a China Autism Art Education Workshop to let those children have a place to study, to work and gain some money; part of the money will be given back to the painters to let them know that they are useful to society.

When: April 2 to 16

Where: Inside-Out Art Gallery, Beijing

Contact: 6285-6651