Thangka masterpieces exhibited in Beijing

Geng Ying, head of the Chinese Cultural Heritage Foundation, delivers a speech. [Photo/China Tibet Online]
Geng Ying, head of the Chinese Cultural Heritage Foundation, delivers a speech. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

BEIJING, Jul. 4 (China Tibet Online) The Second Chinese Thangka Cultural Research Forum and Thangka Masterpiece Exhibition opened at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities. Meanwhile, 14 books on Thangka cultural research were released, and the "‘Double Five’ Project of Young Thangka Artist Training Plan" was also launched.

From Jul. 6 to 7, the exhibition at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities featured traditional masterpieces of Thangka paintings, tragali (small-scale Thangka), and new-concept Thangka paintings. In addition, on display are also 80 pieces of revolution-themed Thangka paintings based on the famous Tibetologist Jampal Gyatso’s book, Here Is the Place the Red Army Set foot on, which embodies the unity between soldiers and civilians and between Han and Tibetans, as well as friendship between different ethnic groups.

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The objective of the forum is to continue to develop and carry on the legacy of the traditional Tibetan culture. It is specifically aimed at the Thangka art, the archetypal representative of Tibetan culture. The forum proposes to formulate standards for a national Thangka industry, as well as to provide a platform for national specialists and Thangka artists to make in-depth discussions on inheritance, protection, innovation, and development of Thangka.

Kang Kelzang Yeshe, director of the Expert Committee of the China Thangka Cultural Research Center, said in a speech that this year marks the first anniversary of the official launching of China Thangka Cultural Research Center. The Center has always upheld the spirit of inheriting cultural heritage through protection, and developing it through innovation, and continued to promote the development and prosperity of Thangka cultural undertakings in various ways.

Thangka, the world-class art is called the "Encyclopedia of ethnic Tibetan culture". Through more than 1,400 years of development, it is a formed different genres and spread from the snow land to the rest of the country and the world at large. In recent years, more and more people have paid attention to Thangka and started collecting Thangka paintings.

There are five major institutions under the China Thangka Cultural Research Center, and it has specially established an Expert Committee consisting of more than 20 nationally well-known specialists, inheritors of the Thangka intangible cultural heritage, national-level artists and craftsmen. It is committed to Thangka-related tasks such as academic research, evaluation, assessment, protection, restoration, data collection and publicity. The 14 new books on Thangka cultural research represent the first large-scale book release since the founding of the PRC, and a systematic collection, arrangement, compilation, and publication of research resources for Tibetan culture and art.

These books will fill many gaps in the realm of Thangka painting and research, and promote the vigorous development of the research on Tibetan culture and art.

The "‘Double Five’ Project of Young Thangka Artist Training Plan" is initiated by national-level artists and intangible culture inheritors of various Thangka genres. And the Chinese Cultural Heritage Foundation and the China Thangka Cultural Research Center are jointly responsible for raising funds and donations for the project. Within five years, the project plans to cultivate 500 young Thangka artists throughout Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan-inhabited areas in four provinces (Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai). The young artists will resume the legacy of Thangka, and, in strict accordance with the capacity to teach, and in accordance with monastery rituals, they will create the most authentic paintings. The first period of training will take place in the Dzamtang Tsangpa Monastery in Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province.

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The Second Chinese Thangka Cultural Research Forum and Thangka Masterpiece Exhibition opened at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities.
The Second Chinese Thangka Cultural Research Forum and Thangka Masterpiece Exhibition opened at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

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The Second Chinese Thangka Cultural Research Forum and Thangka Masterpiece Exhibition opened at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities. [Photo/China Tibet Online]
The Second Chinese Thangka Cultural Research Forum and Thangka Masterpiece Exhibition opened at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities. [Photo/China Tibet Online]