TWO Chinese artists are to show their work alongside a host of local exhibitors.

Durham County Council's annual open art exhibition will go on view at The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, from Saturday, March 2.

The exhibition, now in its fifth year, gives artists the chance to showcase their work.

This year, Annie Liu and Jiangiang Bai are exhibiting their work alongside the county's finest. They learned of the exhibition as Annie lives in Durham and is studying for an MA in graphic design at Northumbria University.

She completed a degree in industrial design at the University of Beijing before leaving China to be with her partner Jie Wang, who is a physics lecturer at Durham University.

Jiangiang Bai completed his degree in fine art and is now a professional artist and art teacher art at Beijing University.

This will be the first time he has exhibited outside of his home country.

David Newell, Durham County Council's arts co-ordinator said: “The open art exhibition has been a huge success across County Durham and the wider region.

“This is mainly due to the support of local artists and the wealth of creativity within our region.”

The exhibition runs from March 2 to April 7.