November 15th Opening Month Event | "First Encounter with Dunhuang" — Shi Dunyu's New Book Sharing Session

The Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum, with "Jingxiang Dunhuang" as its inaugural exhibition, will officially open to the public on November 11th. The exhibition will engage in a multi-dimensional dialogue between Dunhuang culture and contemporary art and, through a rich variety of public education activities, transform into an art venue for learning for all and exchange, promoting the deep integration of Dunhuang culture and the development of the Yangpu urban area.

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) inheritor Shi Dunyu will be present for book signing and interactive lectures, revealing the stories behind 112 restored Dunhuang paintings, from celestial dancers to secular life, and the behind-the-scenes stories of two generations of the Shi family's dedication to the restoration of Dunhuang art.

Dunhuang, a bright 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, the weathering of time, oxidation, and human destruction mean that visitors to the Mogao Caves today can only catch a glimpse of faded and mottled murals.

Fortunately, two generations of the Shi family—early Dunhuang scholars Shi Weixiang and Ouyang Lin and their descendant Shi Dunyu—have spent seventy years meticulously researching and using exquisite painting skills to restore hundreds of Dunhuang murals, allowing us to finally see the original splendor of the Dunhuang murals. "First Encounter with Dunhuang: A Collection of Dunhuang Mural Restoration Art" not only includes 112 restored Dunhuang paintings ranging from narrative paintings to Sutra paintings, from celestial dancers to secular life, but also tells the story of two generations of the Shi family's 70-year commitment to Dunhuang restoration art.

Let us listen to ICH inheritor Shi Dunyu as she narrates the stories behind the restoration art of Dunhuang murals, rediscovering Dunhuang and feeling the awe and emotion of that first encounter.

Time: November 15th, 14:00 – 15:30

Location: Cultural and Creative Area, 1st Floor, Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum

Number of Participants: Up to 30 people

Organizers: Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum, CITIC Publishing Group

Schedule

14:00-14:15

Shi Dunyu's New Book "First Encounter with Dunhuang" Sharing

14:15-15:00

Lecture "My Home is in Dunhuang"

15:00-15:15

Interactive Session

15:15-15:30

Book Signing for "First Encounter with Dunhuang"

Prices

200 yuan (includes a signed copy of "First Encounter with Dunhuang" worth 199 yuan + a limited edition Dunhuang-themed coffee worth 29 yuan + one lecture)

258 yuan (includes a signed copy of "First Encounter with Dunhuang" worth 199 yuan + a limited edition Dunhuang-themed coffee worth 29 yuan + one lecture + an exhibition ticket worth 98 yuan)

Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor Shi Dunyu

《三兔共耳莲花藻井图》2022布面绘画

Born in 1952 at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Shi Dunyu is the first child born to the descendants of the early Dunhuang scholars, 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 generation who lived, studied, and grew up in the Mogao Caves, Shi Dunyu has long been immersed in the cultural circle of Dunhuang studies experts and restoration masters, absorbing the artistic nutrition of the predecessors and gradually forming her own artistic style and characteristics.

In the inaugural exhibition of the Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum, Shi Dunyu's restored "Three Hares Sharing an Ear under a Lotus Well" is displayed in the third chapter "Re-creation".

The well from Cave 407 of the Sui Dynasty in the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, this well deviates from the early form of four斗 four corners and layered colors. The well heart is wide, painting a large lotus flower with overlapping multi-layered petals. The heart of the flower paints three hares chasing each other in a spiral, their heads and tails connected, chasing each other, with three ears forming a triangle. Each hare still has two ears, creating a strong sense of rotation. In the large petals, there are eight celestial beings holding flower plates and lotus flowers, scattering flowers and fragrance. Two bhikkhus hold the Dharma instruments and fly in the sky, and two children celestial beings fly freely. The large lotus flowers in the four corners seem to be rotating and dancing, with flowing clouds and flying flowers, flying all over the sky, making people seem to be able to look up at the blue sky from the well. The well heart is surrounded by a border of diamond lotus pattern and a curtain hanging on the four sides, with a row of small Buddhas painted on the outermost layer, only one row here, surrounding the well.