Can ancient Buddha statues that are not officially protected be restored without authorization?

Expert: if it is a cultural relic or will be held accountable

  The Paper, senior reporter Zhao Shi, intern Li Zhe

  On October 12, an art exhibition called "My Buddha" caused controversy on the Internet.

The exhibition exhibited photographs by young artist Chu Bingchao. The subject of the exhibition was the comparison of 50 damaged Buddha statues he found in Gansu, Shaanxi, and Ningxia before and after his restoration. He compared his personal image with the image of the Buddha. Understanding is integrated into the statue.

This action caused strong doubts from netizens, who believed that it was the destruction of Buddha statues.

In the afternoon of the same day, Chongqing Shifang Art Center, which hosted the exhibition, responded in an interview with the media that Chu Bingchao said that these Buddha statues are not cultural relics protected by relevant departments, but some statues of Buddha in inaccessible places in the mountains.

On the evening of the 12th, Yu Chun, associate professor of the School of Cultural Heritage of Northwestern University, said in an interview with The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) that if the Buddha statue restored by Chu Bingchao is indeed an ancient cultural relic, he may also bear the corresponding responsibility.

Chu Bingchao's solo exhibition "Chu Bingchao: My Buddha".

The pictures in this article are from related pages of artlinkart website

"Individuals other than the cultural relics management department cannot perform restoration without authorization"

  The introduction of the exhibition titled "My Buddha" shows that Chu Bingchao "integrated his personal image, his understanding of Buddha statues, and his mood at the time into it" during the restoration process.

  In an interview with the Beijing Youth Daily, the Chongqing Shifang Art Center stated that Chu Bingchao said that these Buddha statues are not cultural relics protected by relevant departments, but some Buddha statues in inaccessible places between the mountains and the wild. There are no signs around these statues.

Chu Bingchao's solo exhibition "Chu Bingchao: My Buddha" works.

  If these damaged Buddha statues are not officially protected, can they be personally repaired?

Yu Chun said that first of all, it is necessary to distinguish whether the Buddha statue is an ancient cultural relic. If it is confirmed to be an ancient cultural relic, even if it is not listed for protection by the cultural relics department, it is also the national cultural heritage. Individuals who are not the cultural relics management department cannot repair it without authorization. .

  If the Buddha statue that he repaired is indeed a cultural relic, should Chu Bingchao bear legal responsibility?

Yu Chun said that this needs to be determined based on the investigation of the local cultural relics protection department, but if he is not a professional cultural relics protection personnel, the act of repairing cultural relics without authorization is itself inappropriate.

“In the process of previous investigations, it has been discovered that some Buddha statues and cultural relics that are not part of the cultural relics protection unit have been arbitrarily restored by local believers." Yu Chun said that if the local cultural relics protection department identified these Buddha statues as cultural relics, then the artist May have to bear certain responsibilities.

  According to data, Chu Bingchao was born in Pingliang, Gansu in 1986 and graduated from the Sculpture Department of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts. His works include sculptures, installations, videos, and publications.

The cultural preservation industry follows the principle of repairing the old as before instead of creative restoration

  The exhibitor also responded that Chu Bingchao did not use other repair tools such as paints. They all repaired them with water and mud, and they were all reversible. “If you think there is a problem, the outside clay sculpture can be removed.”

Chu Bingchao's solo exhibition "Chu Bingchao: My Buddha" introduces the photos published on the website.

(No specific scenario specified)

Will this restoration method cause damage to cultural relics?

Yu Chun said that it depends on the material of the cultural relics. If the cultural relics are made of clay or have colored paintings on them, repairing them with clay sculptures will also cause damage to the cultural relics, because the clay sculptures will use water and other media. It will have a devastating effect.

  Yu Chun also introduced some of the principles that the cultural relics conservation community currently follows in the restoration of cultural relics: first, repair the old as the old, restore it as it was when the ancient statue was originally built, rather than creatively restore it; second, try to Less intervention, "If the head of the Buddha is missing, we will not make a head for it, but keep its damaged appearance, unless the original head is found and reinstalled."