Give a cat a home at M Woods: museum kitties looking for purr-fect parents

The Beijing-based art museum M Woods went to the cats last weekend. The private 798 institution hosted a cat adoption day, part of a city-wide initiative by the organisation Beijing Adoption Day. “There are four cats working with us in our office, all of whom were adopted by our founders Lin Han and Wanwan [Lei] in different places,” says M Woods programme specialist Kiko Tse, who oversaw the event and has two felines of her own. The museum hosted 16 rescue cats, with potential adopters subject to home visits by Beijing Adoption Day volunteers. “No cats immediately went to a new home, but each cat got five applicants in average,” says Tse. The crowds and heat in Beijing’s sweltering summer meant the museum had to install extra fans to keep the moggies comfortable. China has no public shelters or laws against animal cruelty, but a nascent animal welfare movement has found many a supporter in the Chinese art world. “I guess art lovers are usually more sensitive, more able to have an insight into the beauty of life,” says Tse. The cats were kept away from the exhibition space (they were nonetheless only a whisker away from the galleries).