The Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Biennial, launched in 2012, has shown works by nearly 1,000 artists from home and abroad in nine themed exhibitions and 70 parallel exhibitions in four sessions, promoting the biennial format to a wider audience outside art hubs such as Beijing and Shanghai.

The fifth biennial will take place from May 15 to July 26 at several art museums and cultural venues in Suzhou Industrial Park near the scenic Jinji Lake in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) in Beijing who has been the biennial's chief curator since its establishment, says the upcoming event will include eight exhibitions showing the latest developments in art as well as classic works.

He says the works on show will include sculptures by members of the French Academy of Arts, drawn from NAMOC's collection, and by rising Chinese artists. There will also be ink paintings to offer a glimpse into artists' experimental explorations into the Chinese ink tradition.