The bold and innovative designs of young artists were celebrated at a national exhibition in Beijing. The "2008 Exhibition of Plastic Arts - Works of Rising Artists", which opened at the National Museum of Fine Arts on Monday, gave prominence to the plastic creations of up and coming artists.

The "2008 Exhibition of Plastic Arts - Works of Rising Artists", which opened at the National Museum of Fine Arts on Monday, gave prominence to the plastic creations of up and coming artists.

The 46 works on show were all winning pieces in a national competition of plastic arts by emerging artists across the country. Their works were selected from more than 26 hundred submissions since the competition was launched in August.

Many of the artists were able to see their works exhibited at the National Museum of Fine Arts, China's most prestigious art venue, for the first time.

Li Yilan, participating artist, said, "Many young artists are now leaders in the realm of fine arts and they're contributing remarkable pieces to the achievements of Chinese art. We definitely need such exposure to project our artistic opinion."

The majority of the participants were students at different art schools. They've used various media, such as oil painting, traditional Chinese ink and brush painting, sculpture and printmaking to interpret these plastic works of art.