For fans of traditional Chinese culture and art, this is the real deal. Around 100 pieces of choice porcelain wares, sculptures, Chinese paintings and calligraphy works by contemporary artisans are on exhibition at the Sanfeng Art Museum in Futian District.

“While we marvel at the masterpieces by our ancestors and draw inspiration from their works, we, standing at this special point of history, also come up with our own interpretation of the world today and deconstruct our traditions,” Chen Xiangbo, Chinese painting artist and head of the Guan Shanyue Art Museum, said at the opening ceremony Saturday.

Around 100 pieces of choice porcelain wares, sculptures, Chinese paintings and calligraphy works by contemporary artisans are on exhibition at the Sanfeng Art Museum in Futian District. Li Dan

Chen, praised for his gongbi (meticulous-style) paintings of flowers and birds, displays two pieces at the show. Unlike traditional works of this category, Chen’s works also borrow from Western paintings in their structure, color and contrast as well as a focus on the images and their metaphors derived from freestyle ink paintings.

A painting by Chen Xiangbo.

Also on display are the works from Beijing-based painter Yang Mingyi and Guangzhou-based artist Li Jingkun. Yang, born in Suzhou in East China’s Jiangsu Province, is known for his depiction of the water towns along the Yangtze River. Using different shades of green and ink and a few seemingly random brush strokes, he creates vivid scenes of serene villages surrounded by rivers and lush rice fields at the foot of small hills. As if shrouded in drizzle, cooking smoke rises from houses, farmers walk with their water buffalos and several fishing boats sail on the river.

A painting by Yang Mingyi.

Li, born out of a traditional painter’s family in Guangzhou, used to study after the masters of Lingnan (South of the Nanling Mountains) School such as Li Xiongcai and Chen Jinzhang. His freestyle ink painting “The Long March” poetically interprets the trying historic trek of the Chinese communists in the 1930s.

A large part of the exhibition — about 50 items — is devoted to white porcelain wares made in Dehua, Fujian Province. Known as “Blanc de Chine” or “white from China” overseas, the white wares inspired European potters to develop their own hard-paste white porcelain (made from compound minerals and fired at very high temperatures), copying prototypes imported from China in the 18th century.

Dehua was producing ceramics as early as the 10th century. The first Chinese porcelain to reach Europe — a small jar with a floral design in applied relief and covered in bluish white glaze, now in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice — was made in Dehua and is believed to have been brought there by Marco Polo in 1295.

“Dehua porcelains may not be as widely known in China as those made in Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province,” explained Li Jinpeng, chief designer of Gold Chariot Porcelain, a company based in Dehua. “But that doesn’t mean they are inferior to Jingdezhen porcelains in terms of technical skills or artistic value.”

The significance of Dehua white wares lies in the nature of the raw materials used at local kilns. Porcelain clay mined from the nearby mountains is pure, soft and easy to mold.

As porcelain recipes improved during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Dehua white porcelains became exceptionally pure, sleek and refined. Potters adopted designs and decorating techniques from other kiln sites and craft workshops, creating some of their iconic designs such as the “libation cup,” a type of vessel whose form is derived from carved rhinoceros horn.

Religious figurines are another important category in Dehua products. Featuring elegant representations and intricate details, these divine images are considered the pinnacle of Dehua craftsmanship.

The most popular deity portrayed in Dehua is the Chinese goddess Guanyin (Bodhisattva), fondly called by Westerners the “Venus of China.”

Apart from the traditional Guanyin and big-bellied laughing Buddha figurines, some pieces at the show cater to a modern aesthetic taste by attempting at more abstract images.

One figurine of Hongyi, one of the most celebrated and admired Buddhist monks in modern Chinese history, is quite eye-catching. Originally named Li Shutong, he was known as a talented writer and musician. The figurine carries a string of prayer beads in his right hand but hides his left hand in a swirling sleeve, a metaphor for his carefree first half of life. Final brushes of ink have been added to the figurine, giving it an effect to that of Chinese painting.

Drawing inspiration from traditional forms, some pieces also explore the boundary between the functional and the non-functional, design and art. A small figurine of a fisherman angling in a boat also serves as an incense burning utensil, as the incense stick can be held as the fisherman’s rod.

Additionally, several Jingdezhen artists bring their works to the show. Liu Xinliang, born into a craftman’s family, is known for his delicate vases and paintings that combine the fine art of color ink painting with porcelain ware. His works feature images of flowers and birds as well as landscapes.

Wang Xiaofeng is known for his own unique creation — a milky white porcelain adorned with embossing stripes and hand painted simplistic images, to which he gives the name “Tang Dynasty-style white porcelain.” Xiong Yuantang brings his signature white-and-red porcelain wares decorated with elaborate patterns.

The exhibition also presents bronze sculptures by Wang Guisheng, paintings by Zhou Yansheng and Song Yuming as well as calligraphy works by Wang Ziwu.

Admissions are free.

Time: Until Sept. 22

Venue: Sanfeng Art Museum, 2 Zijing Road, Futian Free Trade Zone