CAA's exhibition of poem-informed art looks to northwest

For years, "The Way Toward Poetry" has been an extravaganza in Zhejiang Province's art realm. The China Academy of Art hosts the event every year, showing a series of artworks inspired by the Eastern Zhejiang Tang Poetry Road (浙東唐詩之路) – a specialized road in the history of Chinese literature, emerging as another significant cultural route following the Silk Road and the Ancient Tea Horse Road.

This year, CAA's focus switched to Dunhuang in northwest China's Gansu Province. Showing at the Dunhuang World Exhibition and Convention Center, the exhibition "Mountain Trail of Infinite Longing" runs through October 23.

Different from the poetry road in Zhejiang Province, which is characterized by serene waterfalls, undulating mountains, tranquil villages and vast forests; Dunhuang boasts the Gobi Desert, dunes, gorges and the millennia-old Silk Road and Buddhist grottoes.

The city was a transportation hub along the Silk Road that thrived thanks to the booming silk trade and Buddhism in that era. It is an oasis and a religious and cultural crossroads on the ancient route. In the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), renowned poets visited Dunhuang and wrote poems to eulogize the frontier landscape.

"The poems connect coastal Zhejiang with frontier Dunhuang during the Tang Dynasty, encapsulating the spiritual essence of the Chinese people across both ancient and modern times," said Jin Yibin, Party secretary of the CAA.

The CAA took students to visit relics along the ancient poems road in Dunhuang to explore cultural heritage items last year.

The exhibition features 180 artworks inspired by off-the-beaten-path landscapes, including frescoes, ink-wash paintings, sculptures, calligraphy and multimedia installations.

The Tang Dynasty was the apex of Chinese literature and produced the golden age of classic Chinese poetry. Even today, Chinese students learn poems from that era in school, some of which are still popular among Chinese speakers around the world.

Poetry has nourished the hearts and minds of the Chinese people for over a millennium, establishing a universal foundation for poetic sentiment and spiritual life throughout the country. According to the characters portrayed in the poems, the exhibition organizers categorized the exhibits into four sections, namely warriors, monks, foreign merchants and poets. Professors and students focused on the power of their imaginations, creating a world by harmonizing with the traditional poetic aesthetic.

Shao Wenhuan's photographic and digital work depicts the panoramic Yadan landform in Dunhuang. It presents a majestic and magnificent image featuring oddly-shaped rocks and harsh Gobi desert. The black Gobi makes visitors ask questions of the weight the human spirit and body can carry.

Since ancient poems often depicted secluded landscapes, highlighting man's insignificance against nature and the poets' detached attitude toward life, Shao's work aspires to rebuild that spiritual world through art.

Literati from the Tang Dynasty would travel to Dunhuang, particularly when their royal court faced setbacks in battles against invaders. The stark beauty of this frontier region captured their hearts.

For instance, Li Bai, celebrated as the "God of Poetry" in the Tang Dynasty, traveled to what is now Gansu Province. There, he captured the homesickness of warriors in his poem "The Moon over Guanshan Mountain (關山月)."

Min Xuelin created calligraphy of the same name, of which the bold strokes look like the swirling sand rose from dunes.

In recent years, the desert area has been traversed by railways. Meanwhile, many developed cities in eastern China have paired with the area in developing green energy industries.

Chen Weiyin's painting integrates the murals of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes with modern infrastructure, showcasing the significant changes in recent years.

The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring some of the finest examples of Buddhist art, was a popular destination for devout believers at the time. The painted murals form the world's longest painted corridor, with a total of 45,000 square meters.

Dunhuang's 2,000 years of history has evolved into a world-renowned cultural and artistic treasure house. With collaborative efforts between the CAA and local authorities, a wealth of reproduced murals is on display at the exhibition.

If you go

Date: Through October 23

Venue: Dunhuang World Exhibition and Convention Center

Address: 2713 Wenbo Rd E., Dunhuang City, Gansu Province

甘肅省敦煌市文博東路2713號