This exhibition was organized by China Institute Gallery and curated by Willow Weilan Hai, Director of China Institute Gallery, and Jerome Silbergeld, the P. Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History and Director of the Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University.
Like the old masters before them, modern and contemporary luminaries, such as Zhang Daqian (1899–1983), Zhang Hongtu, Liu Jude, Liu Dan, Yu Hong, and others, have sought inspiration from Dunhuang’s ancient sculptures and murals. This exhibition presented the breathtaking accomplishments of their painstaking efforts with works that capture the experience of Dunhuang in powerfully transformative ways. With its carefully curated groups of paintings, calligraphy, sculptures, photographs, and mixed media installations, this exhibition encompassed a variety of themes and forms. It was a pioneering exploration of the historical, literary, artistic, and conceptual nature of the inspiration and influence exerted by Dunhuang’s thousand-year-old tradition on contemporary artistic creation.
This exhibition was made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and by the generous support of the W.L.S. Spencer Foundation; and China Institute Friends of the Gallery.
