Tibetan-style Woodprint Exhibited in China＇s Top Art Gallery

Woodprint is pronounced “Shiangba” in the Tibetan language. Shiangba features its own distinctive style, which makes it different from other forms of woodprint. Not long ago, an exhibition on Shiangba works was held in the National Art Museum of China （NAMOC）, jointly organized by the print art committee under the Chinese Artists Association, Sichuan Provincial Association of Artists and Aba Higher Normal School. It is the first exhibition on Tibetan-style woodprint ever held in China＇s top art gallery, which set a milestone in the history of Chinese painting.     

The Miracle of Chinese Art Market

Before the reform and open up policy was launched in the late 1970s, there was virtually no art trade in Mainland China.Since the 1980s, China＇s art market began to develop gradually. Since the early 1990s when art auction was allowed, private collection and art trade have continued to thrive. In China, trade of private curios and art objects is conducted primarily in shops, street stands or indoor markets. Buyers and sellers bargain with each other and the deal is made when the two reach an agreement. Art auction was introduced into China from Western countries. In an open and fair environment, art objects are traded in the auction house and the buyer who bids the highest price obtains the object,     

A Review of Contemporary Tibetan Painting （Part Two）

Wutun School, while influenced by world art, is having growing impact on the development of world art, which reflects its most prominent characteristics in the contemporary art arena. The newly-created 560-meter-long epic scroll, entitled ＂Panorama of Tibetan Painting of China＂, overviews politics, history, culture, religion and economy of Tibetan nation, fully demonstrating various schools of Tibetan painting and reflecting highest levels and overall strength of contemporary Tibetan painters.     

Printing of Tibetan Buddhist Sutras： an Art of Wood and Paper

Dege Sutra-printing Institute is one of the three major institutes in Tibetan Buddhist sutra printing, together with those in the Potala Palace in Lhasa and Labrang Monastery. It has a vast collection of ancient treasures of Tibetan Lamaism, including Tangka paintings, Buddhist statues and religious objects, which are important references for the study of the art of Tibetan Lamaism.     

Li Qing Dedicated to Art of Fire

Ceramics is an art of fire. The tension and flexibility of earth are extended in the artist＇s hands to show the unique textural beauty and subtle feelings of the artist and original materials from the nature are mixed and tempered by fire. This complicated process demonstrates the artist＇s particular ideas, feelings and dispositions. In the eyes of Li Qing, a young artist from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, that is the very nature of ceramics that fascinates him so much.     

Chinese Lacquer Art （I）

Lacquer, a natural substance obtained from the lacquer tree, is widely used as the environmentally friendly paint, adhesive,forming agent, pigment and dye. As China is home to the world＇s most and best lacquer trees, the lacquer art has been developing in China uninterruptedly for over 8,000 years.     

TIBETAN TANGKA PAINTING GOES TRENDY IN COLLECTION MARKET

Tangka, a Tibetan term, is a type of scroll painting considered one of the two most valuable traditions of Tibetan painting, together with Tibetan mural painting, In 2006, Tangka was inscribed on the first National List for Intangible Cultural Heritage of China. Since then, this time-honored art expression has been gaining increasing attention of art collectors. In recent years, quite a number of tangka paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties have been sold with exorbitant prices at auction fairs; many contemporarytangka masterpieces were also purchased with hundreds of thousands of RMB yuan.     

Ancient Tea Mountains in Xishuangbanna

Pu＇er tea became famous as early as in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Famous tea mountains producing Pu＇er tea are Ioacated in Xishuangbanna, a subtropical area in the southern part of Yunnan Province, including Yiwu, Yibang, Jinuo, Gedeng, Manzhuan and Mansa. The tea produced from these six tea plantations have been widely drunk by herdsmen living in plateau areas in Tibet, Qinghai and Mongolia since the Tang Dynasty. For example, the butter tea popular among Tibetan people is made with tea bricks or cakes processed from tea leaves growing in Yunnan. And the reads for the transport of tea by horse caravans are well known as ＂ancient tea routes＂.     

Along The Footprints of an Artist

Amdo Bvamsba is a Tibetan artist of great reputation over eighty years of age. At childhood, he became a sramanera or novice in compliance with the local tradition. When he showed his first talent in painting, he engaged himself fesolutety to learning the art of painting.     

Grand Canyon of Nu River

Nu River （Angry River in Mandarin） rises from the south slope of Tang＇gula Mountain in northwest Qinghai Province.Tibetan people dwelling on the river＇s upper stream call it ＂Naqu＂, meaning ＂river of black water＂. Its name changes into ＂Nu Jiang＂ after it flows into Yunnan Province from Tibet Autonomous Region. The river then stretches through Myanmar and runs into the Indian Ocean and the section outside China is called ＂Salween＂. Within Yunnan Province, Nu River roars between Gaoligong Mountain and Bilo Snow Mountain which stand at an altitude of 4,000 to 5,000 meters. While the river bed is only 800 meters above the sea level, the river valley is 3,000 to 4,000 meters lower than mountain peaks,     

THE CULTURAL INDENTITY OF CHINA CONTEMPORARY ART

A 36-person delegation from the US President＇s Committee on the Arts and the Humanity paid an official visit to China from June 5 to 13 at the invitation of Chinese Cultural Ministry. On June 10, the delegation attended a seminar on the cultural identity of Chinese contemporary art chaired by Director Fan Di＇an in the National Art Museum of China.     

The Potala Palace

The Red Hill, located in the northwest part of Lhasa,capital city of Tibetan Autonomous Region, is respected as a holy hill by local Tibetan Buddhists. The world-famous Potala Palace stands on this hill. It is said that Tupo King Songtsan Gompo ordered the construction of this magnificent palace in the Red Hill to welcome his bride, Princess Wencheng from the Tang Empire.     

A Brief Review of Chinese Print

Chinese print can date back 1100 years. For example, carved bricks and stones in the Han Dynasty are actually ear, forms of woodprint. As a type of print art, wood board printing invented in the Tang Dynasty was closely related to life of ordinary people and helped to spread arts in ancient China. Buddhist sutra Vajracchedika printed in 868 AD is the important evidence testifying to the wood board printing of the Tang Dynasty and the world＇s earliest complete printed book still preserved today. Thus it is generally recognized as the peak of print art of the Tang Dynasty.     

BETWEEN REALITY AND ABSTRACTION：Zhan Wang＇s Contemporary Sculpture

Zhan Wang is a pioneering artist in China＇s contemporary sculpture circle.Born in 1962 in Beijing, he graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and currently works as associate fellowship with the Institute of Sculpture Creation and Research under the academy. From 1990, Zhan began creating surrealistic sculptures. He began worldng on ＂The Mao Suit＂ series from 1993 and devoting himself to experimental art from 1994. In 1995, Zhan founded a studio with two other artists, aiming to explore relationships between art and society. Based on this studio, he presented two experimental exhibitions - ＂Development Plans＂ and ＂Women ＆ Sites＂. From 1995, Zhan began replicating Chinese classical rockery stones and completed a series of works of stainless steel rockery stone and floating stone. Zhan＇s creations highlight the integration between ideas and objects, with an attempt to transform pure handicraft techniques into conceptual behaviors. In 1998, Zhan released his thesis entitled ＂Conceptual Sculpture： Materialized Ideas＂. From 2000, he began doing experiments on composite art independently. Zhan＇s sculpting works have been collected by many art museums and private collectors, including Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA as well as Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.     

Peking Opera Characters Displayed Overseas

A pair of real-size, vivid Peking Opera figures, Xiang Yu and Yu Ji from Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang＇s classic program ＂Farewell, My Dear Concubine＂, were recently created by Tianjin Zhangming Studio and permanently displayed in the Overseas Museum in Bremen,Germany＇s second largest seaport city, as a gift of Chinese New Year. It is not the first overseas display of Peking Opera figures. This innovatlve art form has been exhibited in many countries such as Brazil, Czech Repbulic, Germany, Japan and Poland, enjoying widespread interest.     

Art Information

COLLECTION ＆ AUCTION CHEN DANQING＇S ＂SHEPHERDS＂ HITS RECORD HIGH AUCTION PRICE Chinese oil painter Chert Danqing＇s ＂Chinese Studies Institute＂ was sold at 12 million RMB at Poly Autumn Fair 2007. But the record was only kept for less than 24 hours. On the next evening, his masterpiece ＂Shepherds＂, one of the oil paintings from his ＂Tibet Suite＂, was purchased with the price of 32 million R.MB at another auction fair, setting a world record for his personal works. Chen＇s ＂Tibet Suite＂, a seven-piece oil series created around 1980, made a stir in the art circle in the 1980s and was considered bringing fresh air to China＇s art world suffocated by mediocre realism.     

Print on Fabric： A Traditional Folk Art

Print on fabric-is a traditional art popular in rural areas of Linyi, Shandong Province This folk art is said to first appear during the Qin-Han ：period （221 BC - 220 AD） and floufshed from the 14^th century to the 20^th century.     

INSIDE THE HOMETOWN OF GIANT PANDA：Diplomatic missions tour to cultural heritage sites in Sichuan

The State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China launched the series program ＂diplomatic missions tour to cultural heritage sites in China＂ in 2006, with an aim to showcase the country＇s rich cultural heritage resources and achievements in heritage protection to the international community. From October 20 to 25, 2007, 17 diplomatic envoys from ten countries as well as international organizations joined the study tour to Sichuan hometown of giant panda. During the five-day visit, they visited several World Heritage sites and appreciated unique folk arts in Sichuan, from mysterious archeological sites in Jinsha to magnificent Leshan giant Buddha, from beautiful Mt. Emei to the ancient irrigation system in Dujiangyan, from years-old liquor workshops to the well-preserved old town in Langzhong, from exquisite Song- Dynasty porcelains to the state-of-art research base for giant panda, from the miraculous face-off stunt of Sichuan opera to the highly skilled art of shadow play. All these attractions have imprinted deep memories in these diplomats＇ minds.     

Tibet： a Holy Land at the Roof of the Earth （Part Ⅲ）

The exhibition ＂The Holy Land of Tibet＂ was held in Taipei Palace Museum from July 1 to September 19. Tibet, an autonomous region of China known as the Roof of the Earth ： enjoys rich and time-honored Buddhist traditions. For instance, a popular legend about the origin of the Tibetan people is widespread,that the Goddess of Mercy incarnated herself into Macaque and married with Rakasasa and their offspring were ancestors of theTibetan ethnic group. Religious concepts and image styles of Tibetan Buddhism are drastically different from Buddhism of inland China.That is why inland Chinese feel unfamiliar with Tibetan Buddhism.     

SHADOW PLAY OF LAOTING

The shadow play of Laoting is a local theatric genre in northern China. Laoting County is located in the eastern part of Hebei Province and this folk art expression is also called ＂eastern Hebei shadow play＂. Puppet figures and props used in Laoting shadow plays are all engraved on donkey skin. Characters sing or speak in Laoting＇s local dialect.