Paper has long been integral to the social fiber of Asian art, especially in China and such neighboring countries as Japan.

Experiments with the Oriental medium in artistic creation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries helped new styles emerge in the field of visual arts, such as Impressionism and other Modernist painting schools.

China and Japan have borrowed oil art from the West to infuse into their paper-based painting traditions, during their modernizations.

But in recent years, Asian artists have increasingly been hailing back to their cultural roots to strengthen their identities as art globalizes.

On Jan 14, the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Tokyo Art University opened the China-Japan Paper Art Exhibition. The regular cultural exchange program is meant to "capture and push forward the trend", says co-curator Yu Ding, who is also a professor with the academy in Beijing.

More than 50 works are on show at Cafa Art Museum. There are paintings on paper, photos printed on paper, and paper-based sculptures, installations and mixed media art. Other media, such as video, use paper as a concept.

10 am-5 pm, until Feb 19. 8 Huajiadi Nanjie, Chaoyang district. 010-6477-1575.