Let us listen to Intangible Cultural Heritage inheritor Shi Dunyu as she shares the stories behind Dunhuang mural restoration art, rediscovering Dunhuang and experiencing the shock and emotion of that first encounter.
The First Sight of Dunhuang
Intangible Cultural Heritage inheritor Shi Dunyu will be present for a book signing and interactive lecture.
From celestial dances and flying apsaras to secular life, 112 restored Dunhuang paintings are presented.
The behind-the-scenes stories of two generations of the Shi family's dedication to Dunhuang restoration art.
The Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum will officially open to the public on November 11th with its inaugural exhibition "Jingxiang Dunhuang." The exhibition will engage in a multi-dimensional dialogue between Dunhuang culture and contemporary art and, through a diverse range of public education activities, will create an artistic space for universal learning and exchange, promoting the deep integration of Dunhuang culture with the development of the Yangpu district.
Dunhuang, as a brilliant pearl on the Silk Road, has witnessed over two thousand years of historical sediment and cultural prosperity, condensing the aesthetics and cultural atmosphere of a millennium into an eternal artistic symbol. However, due to the weathering, oxidation, and human destruction over time, visitors to the Mogao Caves today can only glimpse faded and mottled murals.
Fortunately, two generations of the Shi family—pioneering Dunhuang scholars Shi Weixiang and Ouyang Lin, and their descendant Shi Dunyu—have spent seventy years meticulously restoring hundreds of Dunhuang murals through in-depth research from multiple perspectives and exquisite painting skills, allowing us to finally witness the original splendor of Dunhuang murals. "The First Sight of Dunhuang: A Collection of Restored Dunhuang Mural Art" not only includes 112 restored Dunhuang paintings ranging from narrative paintings to sutra paintings, from celestial dances and flying apsaras to secular life, but also tells the story of the Shi family's 70-year commitment to Dunhuang restoration art.
Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor Shi Dunyu
Born in 1952 at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Shi Dunyu is the first child of the pioneering Dunhuang scholars to be born in the Mogao Caves, named by Mr. Chang Shuhong. She grew up following her father Shi Weixiang and mother Ouyang Lin, both Dunhuang studies experts, into the caves, learning painting and copying Dunhuang murals at the Mogao Caves, and received guidance and teachings from senior masters such as Chang Shuhong and Duan Wenjie. As a member of the generation that lived, studied, and grew up in the Mogao Caves, Shi Dunyu has been immersed in the cultural circle of Dunhuang studies experts and restoration masters, absorbing the artistic nourishment of her predecessors, and gradually forming her own artistic style and characteristics.
