Making waves in the sand

[Photo by Hu Disheng and Courtesy of Cai Studio/For China Daily]

A video recording the process was uploaded on the Internet, then went viral.

Speaking of the Doha exhibition, Cai refers to himself as an amateur curator.

And, in a bid to show what he sees as the immaturity and vitality of Chinese contemporary art that has developed in just the last three decades, he places the installation of Hu Zhijun, an amateur artist based in Beijing, at the entrance to the exhibition.

Hu, 63, was a farmer in his native Hunan province before he joined his son, Hu Disheng, an artist in Beijing, in 2009.

He then started to mold small clay figurines by hand in 2013.

Cai was so impressed with Hu's imagination when he saw his work that he commissioned him to do a piece for the Doha exhibition.

Hu then sculpted some 600 objects on a base that was shaped like a terraced field, showing important figures and events in the progress of Chinese contemporary art.