For the first time, a Brazilian artist will have a solo exhibition in the most prestigious museum in the Chinese capital
The National Museum of China opens the exhibition “Portinari’s Brazil” to the public this Tuesday (June 9, 2026). It is the first solo exhibition by a Brazilian artist at the most prestigious museum in Beijing and brings together around 50 original works by São Paulo artist Candido Portinari.
The exhibition is considered the Brazilian government’s most ambitious project for the Brazil-China Cultural Year 2026, an initiative of cultural and artistic exchanges that has been carried out by the countries throughout this year. In addition to the exhibition, Brazilian music events have been held in China and Brazilian film screenings.
Portinari’s works will be exhibited from June 9th to October 10th this year. The exhibition is carried out together with and with the support of .
To the Poder360the executive secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Márcio Tavares, declared that Portinari’s exhibition is the “most symbolic and most important” event of the entire cultural project, mainly because it is an exhibition at the National Museums of China, which receives more than 20,000 visitors per day – 7 million visitors per year. Getting a reservation to visit the space is considered a difficult task by the Chinese because of the huge demand even on weekdays.
According to Tavares, the Chinese public’s reception of Brazilian cultural and artistic events has been positive and another art exhibition is scheduled for Shanghai, even though it is not part of the Brazil-China Cultural Year 2026.
There will be an exhibition by architect Lina Bo Bardi from July to October at the Shanghai Art Power Plant – a former power plant transformed into an art museum.
In the image, poster for the exhibition “Portinari’s Brazil” in Beijing
