Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum is holding the "Jingxiang Dunhuang" exhibition from November 11, 2024, to May 31, 2025. This is the inaugural exhibition marking the official opening of the Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum to the public.
The exhibition brings together works from 20 renowned contemporary artists: Cao Shu, Chen Zhihao, Ding Yi, Gao Shiqiang, Gu Fei, Hu Junjun, Lu Wen, Ni Youyu, Ouyang Lin, Peng Wei, Shao Wenhuan, Shi Zhiying, Shi Weixiang, Shi Dunyu, Sun Zhijun, Xie Xiaoze, Zhang Huan, Zheng Bo, Zhou Zhenru, Zou Yingzi (listed in alphabetical order by surname), aiming to explore the relationship between Dunhuang's ancient books, archives, cultural relics, and modern and contemporary art. It is worth mentioning that many pieces in the exhibition are the results of artists' on-site creations in Dunhuang.
In this feature, we invite two artists, Ni Youyu and Lu Wen, to engage in an in-depth exchange,review their Dunhuang memories, and share their unique understanding of Dunhuang.
Dunhuang Impressions | "Jingxiang Dunhuang" Exhibition Artists Ni Youyu and Lu Wen in Dialogue
Work | Stupa Series
Lotus Thrones Through Time
Stupas Between Tradition and Contemporary
Since 2013, Ni Youyu has been collecting folk hand-carved wooden lotus thrones through various channels. These lotus thrones were originally meant to support Buddha statues, with different Buddhas requiring different lotuses, a religious system in itself. Typically, the Buddha statues are the focus, but the artist is more interested in the lotus thrones. These lotus thrones mostly come from carving workshops around the world, with craftsmen from different eras leaving distinct tactile marks on them, making each lotus unique. "Stupa" is created by stacking them, standing quietly like a ritual instrument, exuding a faint sandalwood fragrance, a type of ritual instrument that historically did not exist.
Different lotus thrones originally represented the specifications of different Buddha statues, a carrier of form. The artist intentionally abandons the central Buddha statue and chooses to leave the carrier of form, purifying and amplifying it, giving the work a strong ritual sense aesthetically, while also possessing a certain metaphysical abstract meaning.
Ni Youyu
Born in 1984, Ni Youyu is a Shanghai-based artist and the recipient of the 2014 CCAA Best Young Artist Award. Since 2005, Ni Youyu has been involved in the planning of contemporary art exhibitions and critical writing on individual art cases in Shanghai. Since 2007, he has been an independent artist. He has been invited to hold solo exhibitions at the Shanghai Art Museum, Taipei Contemporary Art Museum, Yuz Museum, California Orange County Museum of Art, Kunstverein Konstanz in Germany, He Art Museum, Perrotin, CFA Berlin, and Galerie Obadia in Paris. His works have been collected by institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, Singapore Art Museum, Hong Kong M+ Museum, Hong Kong Art Museum, Shanghai Bund Art Museum, Yuz Museum, He Art Museum, and Sydney White Rabbit Art Museum.
Ni Youyu: Exhibitions do not necessarily need to directly reproduce Dunhuang in surface imagery but can resonate with Dunhuang through their inherent aesthetics or spiritual core.
Q: Why have you not been to Dunhuang yet?
Ni Youyu: I have always felt that going to Dunhuang is not just a matter of buying a plane ticket. Dunhuang has a latent sense of ritual for me, so I have never felt ready. I remember being interested in traditional aesthetics after high school and started buying Dunhuang-related albums to read. Later, when I studied Chinese painting at the art academy, Dunhuang murals became an inescapable theme in our studies. Since then, my understanding of Dunhuang has come more from documents and materials rather than personal experience. After reading so much about Dunhuang, I feel it is not a place to casually visit. I need to do research and prepare before I can approach it with due solemnity.
Q: How do you view the influence of Dunhuang's artistic heritage on your creations?
Ni Youyu: Dunhuang is too great, its history too heavy. As a contemporary artist, I feel I cannot compare with it, but I can correspond with it spiritually. For example, my works "Stupa" and "Free and Easy Wandering" both contain perceptions of time and life.
Q: Can you talk about your work "Stupa"?
Ni Youyu: "Stupa" is made up of a large number of ancient Buddha lotus thrones. These lotus thrones originally supported different Buddhas, possibly Sakyamuni, Guanyin, or Samantabhadra, but due to the absence of the main statue, these lotus thrones have been dispersed. Collecting these lotus thrones was a long process, involving antique markets and craftsmen's shops in China, Japan, and even Korea. These thrones are like an embodiment of a system; link them with steel bars, forming an architectural sense like the Tower of Babel, also a form with ritual and a dialogue with the universe.
Q: What kind of effect do you think the Dunhuang exhibition should present?
Ni Youyu: I think exhibitions do not necessarily need to directly reproduce Dunhuang in surface imagery but can resonate with Dunhuang through their inherent aesthetics or spiritual core. Dunhuang's aesthetics are too great for any contemporary artist to directly match; one can only find corresponding points on a spiritual level.
Q: What are your expectations for your first visit to Dunhuang?
Ni Youyu: I hope that when I visit Dunhuang for the first time, it will be with a solemn state to witness it, not just for the sake of checking in or taking photos. If it's only for tourism or a casual visit, I would rather observe from afar. Dunhuang carries too much history and significance; I hope to approach it with deep understanding and respect.
Work | Singing Sand Fragrance Mountain, Mogao Grottoes Spiritual Leaves
Dialogue Between Fragrance and Time and Space
Connecting Dunhuang and the Contemporary with Scent
In the Mogao Grottoes, Chamber 335, on the north wall, "Vimalakīrti Sutra Transformation" depicts Manjushri leading bodhisattvas and disciples to the city of Vaisali to discuss illness with Vimalakīrti, a lay Buddhist. In front of Vimalakīrti, there is a mountain-like fragrance accumulation mountain on the incense table, symbolizing peace and wisdom. Vimalakīrti uses his divine powers to invite a meal from the Fragrance Accumulation Buddha in the Land of Fragrances above, and after eating this meal, the whole body is fragrant.
The elements of Singing Sand Fragrance Mountain are fluid, inclusive, intangible, and unchanging.
Dunhuang can retain all four seasons, and plants that grow in the desert naturally carry a proud fragrance. The fallen leaves of the Mogao Grottoes in autumn, each leaf has its own story from spring to winter in the year of Jia Chen, about a gust of wind that passes by, a person passing under a tree, a scene within sight. The light shed by the moon, the sound of the bells of the Mogao Grottoes when it is quiet. The thousand Buddhas look, not taken away by the wind, missed when the season passes, but with the most real memory of the Mogao Grottoes.
Curator's Note: Lu Wen takes the fragrance formulas recorded in the Scripture Cave scrolls as clues, restores ancient fragrances with local Dunhuang spices, and attaches the intangible scent to the tangible sand and fallen leaves through methods like smoking. Sand is spread on the sand dunes in the exhibition hall, and the fragrance permeates the space, yet it remains invisible. In addition to the scattered Spiritual Leaves of the Mogao Grottoes in the exhibition hall, we will also keep some at the entrance of the exhibition hall, given to the first ten visitors who come to the museum on public open days.
Lu Wen
Inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of incense making. Currently works and lives in Lanzhou. Traditional culture lecturer at the China Shanghai Cooperation Organization Judicial Training Base. President of the Xiangye Association in Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu. From January to July 2024, participated in the Silk Road exhibition at Beijing Minsheng Art Museum with the work "Sky," replicating the cave fragrance of Yulin Cave 29, and the fragrance of Dunhuang that can be smelled a hundred steps away. In 2022, participated in the Dunhuang exhibition at Beijing Minsheng Art Museum with the work "Corridor," the corridor fragrance, and 32 flavors of Dunhuang.
Lu Wen: I hope more people can truly touch Dunhuang, not just seeing it as a historical site.
Q: As a native of Lanzhou, what is your childhood memory of Dunhuang?
Lu Wen: My childhood memory of Dunhuang is grand, and the feeling was warm. Because I didn't understand much when I was young, I felt Dunhuang was not as mysterious as adults said.Actually, it was more about grandeur and warmth; Dunhuang was like a part of me, always by my side.
Q: Could you share with us the role of fragrance in ancient people's lives?
Lu Wen: I have always felt that ancient people paid great attention to using fragrance. Fragrance represents not only a state of life but also an inner belief. In ancient times, fragrance was used in many occasions, such as when inviting distinguished guests, burning incense every morning, and even in the bedrooms of the wealthy and powerful, fragrance was used for prayer and to seek blessings from heaven. Fragrance is interwoven in the lives of ancient people, reflecting the ritual sense of life.
Q: Could you talk about the specific place or event that led you to understand the fragrance-making parts in Dunhuang/Scripture Cave?
Lu Wen: Actually, my mentor has been very inspiring. He got me started on in-depth research of Dunhuang fragrance. Many people ask me why I choose to make Dunhuang fragrance, and I found that Dunhuang fragrance formulas are similar to those of the Song Dynasty, yet they have many differences. I want to inherit and revive this culture through the study and organization of these fragrance formulas.
Q: In the process of restoring fragrance-making, what part did you find most challenging, and what kind of help did you receive?
Lu Wen: Dunhuang's ancient fragrance formulas are not as complete as those of other dynasties; they are scattered in some manuscripts. When organizing these manuscripts, sometimes I encounter incomplete fragments or characters that are difficult to recognize. In this process, I received help from my mentor and the elderly gentlemen at the research institute. They analyzed the meanings of these characters for me and helped me find the corresponding fragrances.
Q: What is the significance of fragrance traversing thousands of years and entering modern people's lives?
Lu Wen: I feel that Dunhuang fragrance gives me an experience of traveling through time and space. When burning these fragrances, one can physically feel the connection with ancient people. This experience nourishes my body and mind. Modern people often face anxiety, and fragrance can help us calm our minds. When burning fragrance in my studio, it feels very comfortable.
Q: Could you talk about your thoughts on the establishment of the Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum in Shanghai?
Lu Wen: I think the Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum is a beam of light that is radiating and will become an even greater light in the future. I hope more people can truly touch Dunhuang, not just seeing it as a historical site. The museum can accommodate modern art while preserving the splendor of Dunhuang, which fills me with anticipation for the future.