Liverpool to host Chinese art exhibition

Liverpool has been announced as the host of Chinese art collection loaned by its twin city of Shanghai.

The exhibition from the Shanghai Art Collection Museum will take place at the National Museums Liverpool in October.

The announcement was made during Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's recent visit to China.

The collection includes painted face masks used in the Peking Opera, Shanghai-style paper cutting as well as traditional framer's or folk painting which showcase rural life in China.

Laura Pye, director of National Museums Liverpool, said the area "has one of the oldest and largest Chinese communities in Europe" and the museum was "looking forward to bringing this vast collection to our city".

Hu Muqing, president of Shanghai Art Collection Museum, said: "Liverpool and Shanghai are both port cities connected by the ocean, bounded over years through a strong sister-city partnership."

He said he hoped the exhibition "will help foster mutual understanding and further deepen our friendship".

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