China News Service, Lanzhou, November 29 (Reporter Ding Si) "The value of Dunhuang art is not only reflected in religious art, but also in the diversity of exchanges between people from the East and the West." Director of the Dunhuang Grottoes Cultural Relics Protection Research and Exhibition Center of the Dunhuang Academy Luo Yao recently accepted an exclusive interview with reporters from China News Agency and China News Network, saying that to hold the Dunhuang Grottoes Art Exhibition, it is even more important to extract the "everything in the world" in Dunhuang murals, restore its value through the use of digital technology, and present it to the sea in a three-dimensional way. audience inside and outside.
As a cultural treasure in the world, Dunhuang Grotto Art has a history of more than a thousand years.
Different nationalities and cultures meet, communicate and blend in Dunhuang, forming a colorful, rich and profound Dunhuang culture.
Mogao Grottoes is the world's largest, longest-lasting, richest, best-preserved, and most exquisitely artistic grotto temple site in the world.
On August 29, 2022, "The Mark of Civilization-Dunhuang Art Exhibition" was unveiled in Beijing.
The picture shows the exhibition site.
Photo courtesy of Dunhuang Academy
From general education exhibition to special exhibition: presenting the various forms of the world in the murals
"Dunhuang art exhibitions can be traced back to the 1940s. In the early days, a group of young domestic artists came to Dunhuang for investigation. They were shocked by the murals of Dunhuang Grottoes. They copied and sketched them while inspecting them. After returning, they began to hold exhibitions of different sizes." Luo Yao said that this is the earliest prototype of the exhibition of Dunhuang Grottoes art.
In 1948, Chang Shuhong, then director of the Dunhuang Art Research Institute, held the first large-scale Dunhuang Art Exhibition in Nanjing, aiming to promote the excellent traditional Chinese culture and art, and also hoped that more people would pay attention to and protect the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.
In 1951, an exhibition was held at the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City.
In 1955, the "Dunhuang Exhibition" went overseas for the first time to India and Myanmar, and selected a large number of mural reproductions, and then went to Poland, Czechoslovakia, Mongolia and other countries to set up exhibitions.
Luo Yao said that the early outreach exhibitions focused more on the significance of cultural exchanges between countries. Most of the exhibits were precious documents and replicas of mural paintings. Let more people understand the art of Dunhuang Grottoes and the stories of Dunhuang.
On August 23, 2022, the exhibition "Dunhuang: A Story of a Thousand Years of Love" opened in Hong Kong.
The picture shows the exhibition site, and the guests watched the exhibition together.
Photo courtesy of Dunhuang Academy
In the 1980s, Dunhuang studies flourished, and the Dunhuang Academy’s foreign exchange exhibitions increased day by day, and the themes and methods of the exhibitions were all innovated.
"Exhibition can't just be a general exhibition, but also a special exhibition." Luo Yao said that in 1988, the academy explored large-scale thematic art exhibitions, and the "Chinese Xixia Exhibition" entered Japan for the first time, including Xixia murals, documents, Mo The Xixia Buddhist scriptures unearthed in the Gaoku Grottoes are based on the latest research results of Dunhuang scholars.
Up to now, the Dunhuang Academy has held Dunhuang art exhibitions in more than 20 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, India, Turkey, and Mongolia, as well as Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions of China.
In the future, the exhibition will focus more on "everything in the world in Dunhuang murals" to reflect the diversity of cultural exchanges.
Luo Yao said that the exhibition no longer only presents the portraits of religious figures such as Bodhisattva, Joy Letian, and Feitian, but focuses more on excavating the life styles of people in the Middle Ages in the Dunhuang murals, including their clothing, makeup, furniture, architecture, transportation, and daily life. Life, etc., these are the true presentation of history, not the painter's imagination.
By combing and comparing these specific contents across time and space, it reflects the communication process of various ethnic groups and Eastern and Western cultures.
From digitization to intelligence: focus on participation and shorten the distance with viewers
On August 18, 2022, "Brilliant Memories: From Mesopotamia to Gandhara - Exhibition of Metallurgy in Ancient Eastern Civilizations" was unveiled at the Dunhuang Academy.
Photo courtesy of Dunhuang Academy
The Dunhuang Grottoes Cultural Relics Protection Research Exhibition Center was built in 1994, covering an area of more than 20,000 square meters. It undertakes functions such as collection research, exhibition display, public education, and tour guide services.
"Holding an exhibition is not simply arranging the exhibits and writing simple text descriptions." Luo Yao said that each exhibition is based on the selection of exhibits, the construction of exhibition content, the design of copywriting, and the expression of the artistic form of the exhibition. The research results of Dunhuang studies experts, the exhibition is a secondary interpretation and multiple interpretations of Dunhuang Grotto art, and it is also an interpretation and extension of the cultural exchanges between the East and the West on the Silk Road.
The two-way communication of different cultures is a feature of Dunhuang exhibitions, and the exploration of human cultural and artistic exchanges is also the goal that the Dunhuang Academy has been committed to.
"By looking for a variety of patterns in Dunhuang murals, and presenting them from people's clothing, architecture, transportation, tools and other life scenes, let overseas audiences see that although we are in different countries, people's living conditions are different. There are many similarities." Luo Yao said that the Dunhuang Art Exhibition, which frequently goes overseas, narrows the distance between people from countries with different cultural backgrounds, and uses culture as a bridge to realize people-to-people bonds.
In order to better present the form in the mural, it is necessary to rely on technology to restore the "fireworks" three-dimensionally.
"We are exploring the use of naked-eye 3D technology to realize the transformation from digitalization to intelligentization of exhibitions." Luo Yao revealed that at present, AR technology has been maturely applied to online exhibitions, and VR virtual tours of 4 replica caves have been realized; in the future We will explore the realization of naked-eye 3D technology, which can realize the infinite display of exhibition content in a small space. Visitors do not need to wear glasses, and they can zoom in, zoom out, or cross out with a wave of their fingers, satisfying the immersive viewing experience without wearing glasses.
In November 2022, the special exhibition "Millennium Construction - The Beauty of Architecture in Dunhuang Mural Paintings" is being exhibited at the Dunhuang Academy.
Ding Sishe
From Exhibition to Public Education Promotion: Telling Chinese Stories Online and Offline
Replicating caves, 3D printing models in murals, digital high-fidelity replicating fine murals... Today's Dunhuang Culture and Art Exhibition "Constantly Exhibited and Always New" combines it with contemporary concepts and technologies, allowing the audience to appreciate the majestic magnificence at close range The beauty of Dunhuang art also has a rich experience of multiple perceptions, knowing its shape and knowing its meaning.
Meanwhile, the Dunhuang Academy will also introduce outstanding overseas exhibitions to China, or cooperate with overseas cultural and museum institutions to hold exhibitions, showing the historical facts of multicultural exchanges and mutual learning.
The academy also broke through geographical restrictions, and the "Looking at Dunhuang——Online Exhibition of Dunhuang Culture and Art" held through the Internet is being held for public welfare in Taiwan's universities.
As of 2021, the exhibitions curated by the exhibition center have won the "National Museum Top Ten Exhibitions and Exhibitions Promotion International and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Cooperation Finalist Award" three times.
At the same time, exhibition brands with great social influence and market value such as "Dunhuang Art Exhibition" and "Juese Dunhuang" have been formed, fully displaying the multiple values of Dunhuang Grottoes culture and art.
Luo Yao said that the Dunhuang Grottoes Culture and Art Tour Exhibition also used the innovative mode of "exhibition + lecture + public welfare education promotion" to successively carry out "Mogao Grottoes and Mogao Spirit" and "There is a spirit born of Dunhuang-inheritance and promotion" "Mogao Spirit" and many other lectures provided an in-depth interpretation of Dunhuang culture and a vivid analysis of the "Mogao Spirit" for the public across the country.
The research and development of supporting public welfare education promotion courses and activities such as ""Mogao Spirit" - How much do you know in 1650", "The Story of the Nine-Colored Deer", "Rebirth of Ancient Architecture - Model Making of Covered Bucket Tops", etc., have been well received by the audience.
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