Accompanied by the sound of pipa ancient music played on the spot, the multimedia exhibition "Dunhuang Wonderland - The Mystery of the Legendary Cave 220 Caves" was officially opened on the first day of the new year (1st) in Shangsheng New Institute, an urban renewal landmark in Shanghai. This is the first multimedia exhibition of Dunhuang mural music and dance in China, and also the first offline multimedia special cave exhibition officially authorized by dunhuang research institute.
The exhibition is jointly produced by Dunhuang Research Institute and Shanghai Zero Card Culture Development Co., Ltd., and co-sponsored by Shangsheng Xinshuo, and will be on display until March 22.
A creative transformation of "Digital Dunhuang"
The concept of "digital Dunhuang" was put forward by Fan Jinshi, honorary president of dunhuang research institute and "daughter of Dunhuang". After many years, more than 200 caves have been digitized, and the permanent preservation and sustainable use of Dunhuang grottoes cultural relics has been realized. "Digitalization" shows the beauty of Dunhuang to the world and also brings the world closer to Dunhuang.
Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes preserved 735 caves from the 4th to 14th centuries AD, including 492 caves with frescoes and painted sculptures, with a total area of 45,000 square meters, covering all aspects of ancient religious, cultural, artistic, political, economic, military and other aspects of social life. How to make a good choice in the huge amount of information and take the exhibition audience to understand Dunhuang culture is a major problem encountered by the curatorial team.
Theater of Light and Shadow
Under the guidance of the expert team of Dunhuang Research Institute, the zero card curatorial team chose the music and dance that is closest to life as the entry point, focusing on the representative of the music and dance image- Cave 220 of mogao Caves, and unveiling a corner of the picture of the life of the early Tang Dynasty through murals. Starting from a single special cave is also an innovation in the theme of Dunhuang in this exhibition.
Yu Tianxiu, deputy director of the Conservation and Research Department of Dunhuang Research Institute and director of the Institute of Digitization of Cultural Relics, said that Dunhuang Research Institute has been committed to the exploration and practice of "digital Dunhuang" for many years, using digital technology to completely preserve the artistic information of Dunhuang Grottoes, reproduce the charm of Dunhuang art, and let the ancient Dunhuang art go out of the grottoes, out of Dunhuang, and come to the public's side with scientific and technological power. "The Dunhuang Wonderland - The Mystery of the Legendary Cave 220 Caves, co-produced with Zero Card Culture, is another exploration of the creative transformation of the digital achievements of the grottoes of the Dunhuang Research Institute."
Explore the legendary caves and look for the afterglow of Chang'an
Guided by the exploration of the legendary cave, Cave 220 of the Early Tang Dynasty of Mogao Grottoes, the exhibition leads the audience from the music and dance in the murals to the music and dance of life. Cave 220 of Mogao Caves was founded in the early Tang Dynasty and contains the inscription of the sixteenth year of Zhenguan (642). The scene of the medicine man's transformation on the north wall of the main room of the cave occupies one-third of the entire picture, and the scene is grand. At the same time, this is also the earliest and true sense of the warp music dance map, and its theme and layout are of epoch-making significance.
Restoration cave passage details
"Dunhuang Wonderland - The Mystery of the Legendary Cave 220 Caves" chose to focus on the 220th Cave of Mogao Caves, not only because of its legendary and artistic achievements, but also because it opened a window for the audience to understand the life of Chang'an in the early Tang Dynasty. The large-scale orchestra configuration in the murals, the large lamp wheel lamp trees, and the music and dance scenes that most scholars believe to be Hu Xuan dances, various clues point to the source of the murals to the large lantern festival on the first night of Chang'an City.
Through a variety of exhibition methods such as multimedia theaters and physical restoration of mural instruments, combined with original music, customized smells in the exhibition hall, etc., the audience will have the opportunity to walk into history from today's caves and murals, immerse themselves in the landscape of the early Tang Dynasty, and witness the bright style of the murals a thousand years ago.
Chang'an Night View Promenade
The Zero Card Curatorial Team works closely with experts from the Dunhuang Research Institute to showcase the latest achievements in dunhuang mural music and dance research in the exhibition. At the same time, the curatorial team invited literary and historical experts, musicians and multimedia design teams to jointly develop and produce, carefully study the rational restoration of the social picture of the early Tang Dynasty, the new interpretation of the color of the murals, the contemporary interpretation of Datang music and other curatorial difficulties, and restore, reconstruct and reinterpret the Dunhuang murals with a thousand-year history through modern methods.
Yu Xiaoqin, CEO of Zero Card Culture, told the original intention of the exhibition, "'Dunhuang Wonderland' starts from a single special cave, takes the music and dance that is closest to life in Dunhuang culture as the entry point, tries to interpret it with a micro-perspective and strong depth, makes the vast and vast Dunhuang culture more affinity, sense of experience and humanity, takes the public into the world in the murals, and perceives the Dunhuang that belongs to everyone. ”
Break through the limitations of space and bring traditional culture into urban life
"Dunhuang Wonderland - The Mystery of the Legendary Cave 220 Caves" pioneered the creation of a composite space, introducing new formats such as liquor stores and dance dramas in the exhibition space, breaking the restrictions of the exhibition space. Every night, the exhibition hall will be transformed into a desert-themed "Moonrise Liquor Store", integrating the scene of secular feasting and drinking in the Dunhuang murals into the nightlife of modern people.
Every Friday and Saturday night, the first domestic music and painting interactive song and dance drama "The Other Shore Flower" will be staged here. The dance drama is based on Dunhuang murals and tells a fantastic love story. "The Other Side of the Flower" specially invites well-known choreographers and emerging dancers to fully develop more possibilities for the integration of body movements with other media through the use of new media and new venue models.
The first stop of the exhibition was selected at The Shangsheng New Institute. As a sample of Shanghai's "urban renewal", the park is committed to creating an international cultural and artistic district with a strong artistic atmosphere. The Navy Club in the park has a century-old history, and the exhibition "Dunhuang Wonderland - The Mystery of the Legendary Cave 220 Caves" here is a multi-level "dialogue between ancient and modern" - the fusion of Tang Dynasty art and modern art from dunhuang murals, and the multimedia exhibition also brings new formats to the historical buildings in the park.
Imitates instrument details
Chen Lilin, General Manager of Shangsheng Xinsho Project, said: "As one of the model urban renewal cases, Shangsheng Xinshou has been carrying out cultural practice of spatial scenes. As the "debut" of the opening year of Shangsheng Xinshou, this exhibition turns the Navy Club, an old building of nearly 100 years into a cave, with a solid academic background and gorgeous light and shadow art, so that everyone can deeply feel the charm of Dunhuang culture. ”