Zeng Xiaolian Museum of Art / Elepheno Architects

The World Horticultural Exposition was held in the “spring city” of Kunming in 1999, under the theme of “Man and Nature–Marching into the 21st Century.” The ‘99 Expo has had a profound and lasting impact on the growth of Kunming as a city, and the development of the tourism industry in Yunnan Province, and stands as an unforgettable memory for a generation of Kunmingers. Twenty-two years later, the 15th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (COP15) is being held in Kunming. On this occasion, Contemporary Gallery Kunming selected a vacant venue within the original World Horticultural Expo Garden for an artistic revitalization project, to construct a small art museum dedicated to the art of Zeng Xiaolian, a long-time scientific illustrator for the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.