Dunhuang of the Thousand Years, Meet in Beijing: From March 29th to October 28th, 2025, "As Mogaos" Dunhuang Art Exhibition and "Mogaos Spirit" Red Theme Exhibition, jointly organized by Dunhuang Research Institute and Beijing Exhibition Center Group Co. The exhibition was held in Beijing Exhibition Center. This cultural feast, which took three years to prepare, not only features nine 1:1 replica caves and a 300-meter-long immersive "mural gallery," but is also an in-depth cultural experience that transforms the audience from "onlookers" to "participants. "In August, in order to allow the audience to better open the depth of the experience, the Beijing Exhibition Center Mogao Gift Club launched the Dunhuang mural painting ancient clay plate painting in-depth experience activities, which will span thousands of years of mural painting techniques, condensed in square inches of clay plate, so that each participant can personally touch the pulse of history.

Tracing back to ancient methods: highly reproducible mural painting process

This experience basically follows the traditional Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes mural painting method, aiming at highly restoring the ancient technique that has traveled through dozens of dynasties. Participants will be able to experience the entire process from the making of the groundwork to the final painting:

Earth Battle Production (White Powder Layer Clay Blanks): The clay slabs used in this experience simulate the "earth battle layers" of the Dunhuang cave walls. Following ancient methods, the artisans prepare a mud slab rich in fine sand and fibers, and cover it with a fine white powder layer, providing a solid and absorbent substrate for subsequent paintings, which is the physical basis for the preservation of Dunhuang's murals for thousands of years.

Mural Painting (Punching and Outlining with Reprographic Paper): In ancient times, painters used to transfer designs to the wall by punching holes in the "powder book" (the sketch) and applying powder. In order to facilitate the public's experience, the event has cleverly simplified this step to using copy paper to sketch the outlines, which not only preserves the essence of the core technique of "transferring the sketch", but also allows the modern audience to easily get started and accurately capture the elegant lines of the classic images of Bodhisattvas and Flying Skies.

Coloring (mineral raw materials): This is the most textured part of the whole experience. Like the ancient painters, the activity provides mineral pigments derived from natural ores such as cinnabar, lapis lazuli, turquoise and ochre. Participants will grind and blend these radiant color powders by hand, filling the contours with them. When the full-bodied, subdued mineral colors that have lasted for thousands of years without fading are spread out under the brush, the ancient people's ultimate pursuit of materials and colors will be clear to them.

Outlining: the final step and the key to giving the picture a soul. After the color blocks are dry, participants need to outline the details again with calm strokes to strengthen the character's demeanor and the elegance of his or her clothes, completing a Dunhuang clay panel painting of their own, carrying the flavor of the ancient method.

Immersion Experience: Activating Cultural Dopamine in Hands-On Drawing

This experience design perfectly fits the core concept of this exhibition to create an "immersive, perceptible and participatory cultural field". It allows the audience to upgrade from the traditional "eye observation" to the all-round immersion of "hand, eye and heart". Through the "clue-discovery-jigsaw" rhythm of experience, each step of the operation brings immediate feedback and sense of achievement, like a miniature archaeological discovery and art restoration journey. When touching the original ore, grinding out the brilliant color powder, and finally dotting it on the clay board, a kind of "empathy" with the anonymous painters of a thousand years ago across space and time arises, which is precisely the most touching "dopamine" moment in cultural heritage.

September Media Session: Hear the story of the times behind the National Gift

In order for the public to better understand the modern significance of Dunhuang's cultural legacy, the exhibition invited Mr. Liang Shuang, artist and director of the Mogao Gift Club, to share the legendary story behind the national limited edition gift book "Dunhuang Mogao Cave Paintings" during the September media experience session.

This album, published in 1982, originated in 1979, during the "early spring weather" of cultural recovery. Commissioned by the state, under the auspices of Mr. Lei Guiyuan, the founder of the study of traditional Chinese motifs and vice-president of the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, and under the personal guidance of Mr. Chang Shuhong, the founding director of the Dunhuang Institute of Art, a group of artists systematized all the Dunhuang caves for the first time, and then drew and painted them. As a national gift for the Prime Minister's cultural exchanges, this book was limited to only 1,000 copies (500 copies in China), making it one of the highest-ranking Dunhuang research books to date. It not only shows the splendor of Dunhuang patterns, but also bears witness to the early days of reform and opening up, when China regained its cultural confidence and took the initiative to go global.

Liang Shuang's sharing will lead the audience to travel back to that passionate era and feel how a generation of scholars with the "Dunhuang Spirit" in a square inch of paper gathered the sympathetic energy of the national culture, lighting up the "heart light" to the world.

concluding remarks

The "As Mogao" Dunhuang Art Exhibition is not only a visual feast, but also a touch of the soul. By participating in the ancient method of drawing on clay tablets and listening to the narrative of the times behind the national gift albums, every audience member will no longer be a cultural bystander, but will become a participant in the experience of Dunhuang's skills, the spirit of Dunhuang, and the perpetuation of its legacy. Here, Dunhuang is no longer far away, and it will take on a new life and luster through your fingertips and heart in the present day.

Exhibition Name: "As Mogao" Dunhuang Art Exhibition and "Mogao Spirit" Red Theme Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: March 29 - October 28, 2025 (1st Quarter)

Venue: Beijing Exhibition Center (135 Xizhimenwai Street, Xicheng District, Beijing)

Organizer: Dunhuang Academy, Beijing Exhibition Center Group Co.

Organizer: Beijing Exhibition Center of Beijing Exhibition Center Group Limited, Huan Yu Vision International (Beijing) Exhibition Co.

Supported by: Beijing Capital Tourism Group Limited, China Dunhuang Grottoes Protection Research Foundation