"As applicants are numerous but space is rather limited, we had a very hard time deciding on the artists who we wanted to present," Wei said, talking about the biggest challenge for her curatorial work for the Beijing festival.

However, artists who made the cut have bodies of work big enough to assume a distinct style, the curator said.

"If an artist's portfolio is like a series, it means that he or she has developed their own style and has come of age as an artist," said Wei, who has invited five emerging artists to arrange their own solos at the art museum.

Nhozagri and Milei-RayDog, are two of the five artists who will have solos at the festival.

Nhozagri, a Beijing-based artist, is known for creating the "Super Nhozagri Kingdom", a fantasy world filled with "mollusk citizens" — grotesque, imaginary creatures made into plush dolls highly sought-after among fans.