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During the extended Labour holiday, I took the subway and walked 2 blocks to the National Art Museum of China, anticipating art stimulation of my grey matter.

Exhausted heroine at rest. National Art Museum of China. Photo: SLCT

I was stopped by museum security, who very kindly said, no reservation, no entry. Nutz. A week later was the only day with open spots. So, that Sunday, I took the subway, arrived at the ticket counter, produced my passport and reservation code on my phone, and went in. Entry is free, and when I arrived, I was 100 deep in line.

Race against time. National Art Museum of China. Photo: SLCT

This museum is a different building from the National Museum of China, which, according to its website, is “China’s supreme establishment that collects, researches, displays and interprets China’s fine traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture.”

Pause. National Art Museum of China. Photo: SLCT

The museum’s displays cover 6 floors, I think. I used the stairs because there were too many people and not enough elevators… and I needed the exercise. Many elegant exhibitions of florals, portraits, abstracts, sculptures and calligraphy, but by far, my favourites were the depictions of China’s workers, and in particular, the representations of the health teams during the Covid pandemic. I also took photos of the labels with the art/artist information for the images in this post, and the captions for the images are my own.

Scramble to save a life. National Art Museum of China. Photo: SLCT

As usual, my mind leapt miles across to Grenada and the potential for a similar archival exhibition of our healthcare teams in action. Three hours later, my grey matter was sated, and I headed to the subway and back to my apartment to reflect on what I had seen.