Xie Suchen, artistic director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Yinchuan.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The inaugural event, For an Image, Faster than Light, that runs from Sept 9 through Dec 18, features a star lineup of 73 artists from 33 countries, including Yoko Ono, Anish Kapoor and Song Dong.

Works inside and outside the museum address wide-ranging political, economic and cultural issues and ways to improve the world through better thinking, Krishnamachari says.

Beijing-based lithographer Yang Hongwei visited Yinchuan for the first time to attend the biennial's opening. His Century Altar series is on show.

"The city has more than 1,000 years of history and deep cultural traditions," he says. "I've come here to present contemporary art. I hope to activate the modern parts of Yinchuan's cultural DNA."

It isn't a place for artists to gain fame and fortune like they can in such art hubs as London and New York. Instead, they take nourishment and energy.

British artist Abigail Reynolds says displaying her works is only part of her visit to the city.

She won Art Basel Hong Kong's third art-journey award six months ago for her The Ruins of Time: Lost Libraries of the Silk Road series.

She will start from Yinchuan and travel to the sites of libraries destroyed by conflict and natural disasters across China, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Italy.

"This is an old and new city with a very strong relationship with the Silk Road, both in the ancient form and contemporary manifestation," she says.