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October 21, 2024

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Xiling Wulin Gallery opens as a new hub for public art and cultural legacy

By Wu Huixin | 00:17 UTC+8 October 21, 2024 | Print Edition

The newly opened Xiling Wulin Gallery has rolled out the welcome mat for visitors. The gallery draws inspiration from Hangzhou’s epigraphic heritage and aims to revitalize the city’s public art space.

After five years of construction, the 50,000-square-meter venue hopes to break the boundary between highbrow art and citizens, integrating traditional art with public cultural space.

“The key is to break the inherent unapproachable image of high art and make it accessible to citizens,” said Chen Zhenlian, deputy secretary general of the Xiling Seal Society.

“The gallery should not only display art, but also allow the public to understand and fall in love with it. The venue should transform into an artistic hub for Hangzhou residents.”

The Gongshu District and the Xiling Seal Society collaborated to build the gallery as a “gallery plus” wall-less complex. The so-called “gallery plus” mode reflects its operation strategy, which blends galleries with bookstores, exhibition spaces, activity salons, cafes, intangible cultural heritage, music and film. Unlike its counterparts that primarily depend on government subsidies, the gallery aims to achieve independence and commercialization.

The Xiling Seal Society currently uses the gallery as a subvenue to display its rich epigraphic heritage.

A group of noted epigraphers founded the society in Hangzhou during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and early Republic of China (1912–1949) era. Thereafter, Xiling cultivated generations of epigraphers, carving out a new era of Chinese epigraphy and turning Hangzhou into the center of modern-day epigraphy.

Now, the exhibition titled “Gentleman’s Return” is underway in the gallery, featuring top-tier works by Wu Changshuo, Zhang Zongxiang and Wang Fu’an, providing a comprehensive view of these gifted epigraphers.

Inscriptions on stone surfaces during the Tang (AD 618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties provided a wealth of knowledge to scholars in subsequent dynasties. The scholars invented rubbing methods to reproduce inscriptions on surfaces, turning three-dimensional inscriptions into marks on paper. Gradually the methods developed into a branch of Chinese epigraphy, attracting endless streams of literati.

Traditional epigraphy also encompasses seal carving, an art form that flourished as painters and calligraphers would complete their work with a red seal stamp.

Most seal carvers were skilled in the art of Chinese ink-wash painting and calligraphy since the three sections were inseparable. And Wu, Zhang and Wang were no exception.

Wu was a famous calligrapher, painter and seal maker who considered carving seals and painting to be integrated pursuits. He made a great contribution to the establishment of the Xiling Seal Society. Modern-day epigraphers believe that his paintings, poetry, calligraphy and seal art reached lofty heights that nobody has surpassed.

The “Gentleman’s Return” exhibition has been held seven times over the years. Numerous visitors have had the opportunity to view the rare works of the society’s founders on multiple occasions. Today, the exhibition has transformed into a window into the city’s rich epigraphic heritage.

Apart from the exhibition, the gallery is about to host a myriad of cultural activities in the future, transforming itself into a new engine of cultural and creative industry in the downtown area.

Situated in the Hangzhou New World commercial circle, the gallery seamlessly integrates with surrounding communities, shopping malls, educational institutions, historical attractions and tourist areas, creating a wall-less art museum that fosters a deep integration of public space with art and tourism.

The gallery is also a trial for local government in building a citywide “Neighborhood Reading Space” network. To date, Hangzhou has built around 400 bookstores and libraries in residential areas, providing convenient and efficient cultural services for citizens.

Hangzhou


 

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