[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Azulejo is an art of time that always adjusts to new trends and ideas," Alexandre Pais, Portuguese curator of the exhibition, says. "Today's generation tries to find new ways of understanding it in a modern context. Some of them use paintings, cartoons or graffiti, and others may consider adjusting them to better fit architecture and the play between light and shadow.

"So, it is alive and we have confidence in its future… because today's artists also mix it in their observations on the modern world."

Pais also attributes the continuous evolution of azulejo to Portuguese people's open minds and curiosity. They absorb things that once felt exotic to them like images from China and India.

A section of the exhibition showcases how Chinese aesthetics and artistic styles influenced azulejo art.