The mission of the International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen is the presentation of an assembly of contemporary works by artists from China and other parts of the world who, by exploring new concepts, are enriching ink painting's spiritual heritage. It is conceived as a joint programme together with the Shenzhen Forum for Ink Painting.

There are 5 exhibition units/themes in the 4th International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen (listed below), each of them has been documented in a separate volume. The main catalogue provides a summary of the details (including artists, curators and forewords) of these 5 exhibitions.

1. Ink Painting: Design
Non-Asian artists participating in this exhibition: Alan Fletcher (UK), Alexander Gelman (USA), Elisabeth Kopf (Austria), Garry Emery (Australia), Johanna Grawunder (USA) and Kari Pilippo (Finland)

2. Ink Painting: Contemporary Brushwork

3. Ink Painting: Space

4. Ink Painting: the Metropolis
Non-Asian artists participating in this exhibition: Jiri Straka (Czech Republic), Bennoit Vermander (France), Christoph Hanpt (Germany), Sergej Andreevski (Macedonia), Eva Maria (Germany), Anger Renate (Germany), Deanna Sirlin (America) and Sophie Tedeschi (France)

5. Ink Painting: Contemporary Korea