Exhibition of ancient Chinese paintings opens in Taiyuan

The exhibition showcases digital copies of China's top paintings. [Photo/Taiyuan Daily]

A special exhibition titled "Compilation of Classics in the Flourishing Age – A Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings" opened to the public in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, on July 10, and will continue until January of next year.

Compiled and published by Zhejiang University and the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage, the "Comprehensive Collection of Ancient Chinese Paintings" includes a total of 12,405 Chinese painting collections from 263 domestic and international cultural institutions, spanning materials such as paper, silk (including silk gauze and satin), and hemp.

Among these, 9,155 pieces are from domestic collections and 3,250 pieces are from international collections. The collection includes the vast majority of the nation's top paintings.

The exhibition covers an area of approximately 6,000 square meters and showcases over 2,000 color proof drafts of fine paintings included in the collection.

At the exhibition, traditional culture is enhanced by modern technology. Utilizing virtual reality engines, spatial projection technology, new spatial audio processing techniques, and real-time multi-sensory interactive devices for sight, sound, touch, and smell, the exhibition offers visitors a new way to immerse themselves in the paintings.

To create such a spellbinding experience, the technical team from Zhejiang University combined flower-and-bird paintings with landscape paintings.

By simulating the movement of fish swimming in water to represent ink-washed landscapes, they blurred the boundaries between the painting and the viewer.

The movement of the fish, like the diffusion of ink, transforms into continuous landscapes within the space, drawing the audience into the realm of the landscape painting.