Calligraphy and painting are two treasures of traditional Chinese culture. For thousands of years artists have produced works that have sustained the practice of China’s most revered art and provided cultural nourishment for the Chinese people.
Exhibition highlights included exquisite paintings by three Chinese modern artists — Xie Yun, Xiao Lang and Wang Naizhuang — and a replica of an extraordinary 20-metre-long 18th-century scroll documenting Emperor Qianlong’s 1751 tour to the southern provinces. A mesmerising and immersive animation brought the story of the scroll and its historical figures to life in intricate three-dimensional detail.
The National Museum of Australia’s Harvest of Endurance pictorial scroll, painted in the traditional gongbi style and representing two centuries of Chinese contact with, and migration to, Australia formed a companion element of the exhibition, with eight of its 50 metres on display.