Deepening ties

Speaking about the exhibition's title, co-curator Bao Dong says that troposphere is "the most basic, significant and active" region of the atmosphere, and it influences and connects the different parts of human world so intensely that "the oxygen we in East Asia inhale is highly likely to have been released through photosynthesis in the Amazon rainforest".

He adds, however, that multifaceted communication between the two regions is not as much as the troposphere interactions.

He says the exhibition seeks not only more exchanges between Chinese and Brazilian artists, but also a common ground on which they can interact.

Bao says such a dialogue is necessary for artists on the two sides, because the previous exchanges between them relied mainly on international events that had European and American influences.

The exhibition also narrates a brief history of the Brazilian art scene, with the youngest of the featured artists in their 20s and the oldest in their 90s.

Bao visited most of the Brazilian artists showing works at the exhibition when he traveled there in late 2016.

During the visits he was impressed by Barrao's studio, which used to be a chocolate factory, and saw the works now on show in Beijing.

Barrao has been to Jingdezhen, the porcelain-making hub in Jiangxi province.

He likes to glue together smashed chips from different ceramic objects to create new works.