Keiko Moriuchi's "The Kunlun's Peach from the Observation Ship" will be displayed in the China World Trade Center from April 24 to 28. [Photo: cige-bj.com]

As one of the biggest culture event in China, the 5th China International Gallery Exposition (CIGE 2008) will take place in China World Trade Center Exhibition Hall in Beijing from April 24 to 28, to promote "Internationalism, Professionalism and Futurism."

This year's CIGE has received applications from over 300 galleries across the world, a record high in its five years of development. Echoing its international aspirations, the exposition's executive committee has clinched final participants from over twenty countries and areas. Eighty percent of the galleries do not hail from the Chinese mainland. Compared to last year, the proportion of international galleries has increased by twenty percent.

Among the five projects planned for the exposition, "Mapping Asia" is new for this year. To view the future of contemporary Asian art, CIGE has invited 33 young Asian artists to hold their solo shows here. The organizers say that all of the 33 artists were born after 1968 and are the epitome of today's cultural frontline.

Inspired by the collaboration between Japanese Medicom Toy and famous international artists, CIGE and MILK magazine will provide opportunities for Medicom Toy's BE@RBRICK to interact with Chinese culture. Chinese designers will draw on white bears to present their own styles. The bears will be auctioned in the exhibition, and the money will be donated to a charity fund established by Chinese pop couple Li Yapeng and Wang Fei.

The exposition will feature artworks from non-profit art organizations in "Subliminals," a section that impressed visitors last year.

"Alternative Energy" and "Video Loops," where visitors will see how digital signals and new media are infused into art, will make up two other sections in the exposition.