Previewofthe4DfulldomerecreationoftheancientChinesepaintingLifeAlongtheBianRiveratthePureBrightnessFestivalTakeaboatintotheworldofa1,000year-oldpaintingandyoucannotonlyseehowpeopleatthetimelivedalongsidetheriveruponwhichyoufloat,butsimultaneouslyfeelthemoistureandsmellthehumidityintheair.
Ifyouthoughtsuchanexperienceisrestrictedtothevirtualrealityofthefuture,thinkagain.Thissummer,BeijingresidentswillgettheopportunitytohavejustsuchanimmersiveexperienceatanexhibitionatthePalaceMuseum,aswilloverseasaudiencesinthecomingthreeyears.
Thisisthethirdpartofahighly-interactiveexhibition,whichseekstorecreateoneofChina’snationaltreasures-thepaintingLifeAlongtheBianRiveratthePureBrightnessFestival(QingmingShangHeTu).Theotherthreefeaturesthatcompletetheinstallmentareanopeningshowwithacontextualintroductiontothepainting,amultimediatheaterspaceandacreativecultureexperiencearea.
Withitsfineexamplesoffreehandbrushworkandelegantlymutedpalletofcolors,LifeAlongtheBianRiveratthePureBrightnessFestivalbyZhangZeduan,anartistwholivedtowardtheendoftheNorthernSongDynasty(960-1127),isoneofChina’sgreatestworksofart.The25.5cmsbyand5.25meterslonggivesapanoramicviewofBianjing,KaifengCityinHenanProvincetoday,thecapitalofseveralancientdynastiesincludingtheNorthernSong.Thispaintingisoneofthemostvaluableculturalrelicsamongthe1.8millionartifactsinthePalaceMuseumcollection.Now,withaboatshaped360-degreecinemawhichoffers24seats,audiencescanstarttheirtripalongtheriverinZhang’smasterpiece.
“Theaudiencecanseehowpeoplelivedalongtheriveraswellasexperiencethegentlemovementandsprayofthewater,”saidZhaoYuyang,ProjectAssistantwithPhoenixTVCultureLinkDevelopmentCo.Ltd.
“Weusuallyappreciateanartisticworkfromoutside;however,thisprojectplacestheaudienceinsidethepainting,”saidZhao.
WorkontheexhibitionbeganinSeptember2016,followingastrategicpartnershipbetweenthePalaceMuseumandHongKong-basedPhoenixSatelliteTelevision.Overthepastyear,historiansandtechniciansworkedtogetherontheproject’sresearchanddevelopment,strivingtogivetheaudiencearealisticexperience.
Specialchallenges
HuangXiaoyan,CEOofPhoenixLink,describedhowthepaintingtellsthestoryofpeople’severydaylives,makingitrelatabletoamodernaudience.
“IfthereisapaintingthatshowsthemarketplacesandstreetsofanancientChinesecity,thenitismustbeLifeAlongtheBianRiveratthePureBrightnessFestival,”HuangtoldChinAfrica.“Itdepictsallwalksoflifeinthatperiod,alltruetolife.”
ForHuangandherteam,preservingtheartisticqualityofthepieceintheprocessofdigitalizationhadbeenaprimaryconcern,butaccordingtoCuratorofthePalaceMuseumShanJixiang,theexhibitionachievesitsgoalofbringinganationaltreasuretolife.“Therearestoriestobetoldabouteveryartifact,especiallyaboutapaintingwithover800peopleand20boatsinit,”Shansaid.
“Itisnotsimplyadigitalcopyofthepaintingoragamebasedonit.Wehopethattheaudiencecanappreciateandexperiencetheexhibition,andstillfindartisticvalueinit,”Huangsaid.
Outofrespectfortheoriginalpaintingandthehistoryittells,theteamrefrainedfromtakingartisticlicensetoembellishthepiece.Atonestageanideawasonthetabletointegratealovestoryaspartoftheexhibitioninordertomaketheshowattractivetoawideraudience.Itmadesensesincethepaintingisaboutsociallife,buttheideawasultimatelyabandonedbecausethecreatorsdecidednottoaddanythingdisloyaltotheoriginalpiece.
“Weonlyelaborateonwhatthepaintingalreadyhasanddon’tgotoofar,”Huangadded.
Anotherkeyfocuswastheauthenticityoftheexhibitioncomparedwiththepaintingitself.Theteamworkedthoroughlyoneverydraft.
“Forexample,asforhowmanywindowsineachboatandhowmanypanesineachwindow,wehavemadesurethatitistruetotheoriginal.Eventhosedetailsthatareonlyvisibleunderamagnifyingglassarethesameasthoseinthepainting,”HuangtoldChinAfrica.
FrequentdiscussionsandexchangeswithexpertsatthePalaceMuseumareaguaranteeoftheexhibition’sacademicvalue.Seniorresearchersandtheirdoctoralstudentsatthemuseumhavereviewedallaccompanyingdescriptionsandinformation,Huangsaid.
“Themuseumonlyhadafewrevisionstomakeintheplanthankstoalltheresearchdoneaheadoftime,”Huangsaid.
ManypeopleinChinatodayhavecometoexpectahigherqualityoflifethanpreviousgenerations.“Ourcustomersandaudiencesaredemandingabetterqualityoflife,andtheyareeagertolearnmoreaboutChineseculture.Ourshowisthefirststeptowardsatisfyingthistrend,whichwillbefollowedbyaseriesofothercreativeinstallationsforthemasterpiecesofancientChina.”Huangsaid.
Futureprospects
VisitingexhibitionsontheweekendisbecomingafeatureofurbanlifestyleformanyofChina’scityresidents.
Inordertomeetthedemandforhigherqualityculturalservices,thePalaceMuseumhasbeenseekinginnovativemeansofexhibition.ThisversionofLifeAlongtheBianRiveratthePureBrightnessFestivalhasimbuedthepaintingwiththevaluesofmodernity.
“Wehavelongtalkedabouttheintegrationofhistory,artandscienceandtechnology,andnowwehavefinallyachievedit,”ShansaidatanewsconferenceinBeijingonFebruary12.
LiuChangle,ChairmanandCEOofPhoenixTV,saidthattheexhibitionblendshistory,technologyandart,presentedthrough360-degreeholographicimmersion,stageperformanceandfourdimensionalfulldomeimaging.
ThenewsoftheexhibitionannouncedonFebruary12hastriggeredawaveofdiscussiononQ&AwebsiteZhihu.MostInternetusershaverespondedpositivelyandexpressedtheirintentionstoattendthespecialexhibition.
“Artifactscouldlosetheirvalueiftheyaren’tmodernizedalongsidesociety.Thisexhibitionismeaningfultosocialdevelopment,”oneusercommentedonZhihu.
However,forartistZhengXueshan,itisnotnecessarytorecreateaworkofart.Zhengbelievesthatthepaintingitselfhasitsownartisticlanguage.“Fromtheperspectiveofaprofessionalartist,Idon’tthinkitrespectfultorecreate…butthisisnonethelessagoodtry,”Zhengsaid.
“LifeAlongtheBianRiveratthePureBrightnessFestivaliswellknowninChina.Now,withadvancedtechnology,wewillnotonlyknowaboutbutalsoperceivethispainting,”anotheronlinecommentatorsaid.
Besidesofferingamoreimmersiveexperiencefortheaudience,theexhibitionalsohasalottoofferothermuseums.
“Fornumerouspreciouscollectionsinmuseums,newcreativeelaborationscanbringvariousculturalexperiencestovisitorsandletthemhaveabetterunderstandingoftheseculturaltreasures,”ShantoldChinAfrica.
StartingfromtheForbiddenCity,adomesticandinternationaltourisinthepipelineforthenextfewyears.Inthepast,takingartifactsoverseasforexhibitionwasbothriskyandcostlyintermsoftransportationandinsurance.
“Wearestillworriedathome,”saidShan.“Itwillbemuchsaferifwhatweshowcasenowaredevicesnotrelics.What’smore,thisexhibitionwillhelpspreadmoreinformationaboutourhistory.”
“Thisformofmultisensorysimulationcouldbeattractivetoforeignaudiences,particularlythosewhoareinterestedinChineseculture,”saidHuang.
Commentsto
Theexhibitionblendshistory,technologyandart,presentedthrough360-degreeholographicimmersion,stageperformanceandfourdimensionalfulldomeimaging.
LiuChangleChairmanandCEOofPhoenixTV