China News Service, Lanzhou, September 17 (Xiuxing Tang Nannan) The 2026 "New Creation of All Things-China Intangible Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Design Exhibition" hosted by Sunshine Media Group opened on the 16th at Somerset House in London, England. As the core node of the ancient Silk Road, the Millennium Dunhuang Cultural Group appeared, vividly interpreting the profound heritage of the Silk Road civilization and the unique charm of oriental aesthetics to the world.
According to the Propaganda Department of the Dunhuang Municipal Party Committee in Gansu Province on the 17th, this exhibition has the theme of "Interpreting the Heart with Things", which is deeply rooted in the traditional cultural thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in China. It has three themed exhibition areas of "Cleaning the Heart", "Cultivation of the Heart" and "Nourishment of the Heart" to showcase the beauty of Chinese intangible cultural heritage and the vitality of contemporary design. This time, a Dunhuang delegation participated in the exhibition, using culture as a link to tell the British people about the cultural core of inclusiveness, exchange and symbiosis of Chinese civilization.
At the exhibition site, replicas of selected cultural relics from the Dunhuang Museum were on display, becoming the focus of the event. The Dunhuang Museum has a collection of more than 13,000 pieces (sets) of cultural relics, covering relics from the Neolithic period to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Among them, the cultural relics and historical materials of the Han and Tang Silk Roads are of extremely high value.
The replica of Tang Hu people leading camels on tiles on display this time uses delicate bas-relief technology to recreate the prosperous trade scene of the ancient Silk Road. The replica collection of the "Sixth Patriarch's Altar Sutra" unveiled at the same time completely restores the original stitched and embroidered form, and contains the contents of five Zen books. The black silk railings have a regular layout and the silver powder coating is exquisite. It reproduces the calligraphy charm and artistic value of Dunhuang's posthumous writings to the greatest extent, allowing overseas audiences to get up close to the elegance of traditional Chinese culture.
In addition to the reproduction and display of classic cultural relics, Dunhuang Cultural Creation has joined hands with Fan Yanyan Silk Art Center to revitalize the thousand-year-old Dunhuang IP with contemporary design. Classic mural elements such as nine-color deer, three rabbits sharing ears, flying apsaras, and bouncing pipa are innovatively integrated into daily cultural and creative products such as silk scarves, tea sets, and paper sculpture stationery, allowing the thousand-year-old cave art to go beyond murals and integrate into life. The series of exhibits take Dunhuang culture as the core, integrating traditional heritage and modern aesthetics, fully demonstrating Dunhuang's fruitful achievements in the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture.
Dunhuang is located at the westernmost end of the Hexi Corridor. It has a history of more than 2,100 years since its founding in the Western Han Dynasty. It is a core hub where Chinese civilization blends with diverse civilizations such as ancient India, ancient Greece, and ancient Persia. For thousands of years, Dunhuang has embraced the essence of Eastern and Western civilizations, and has nurtured a Silk Road cultural system that integrates grotto art, bamboo slips and classics, frontier historical sites, and folk culture.
The launch of Dunhuang culture at the London International Exhibition is an important practice in the global spread of Dunhuang culture. As an important hub for cultural exchanges along the Belt and Road Initiative, Dunhuang uses a cultural carrier that can be felt, seen, and touched to allow the Silk Road civilization that spans thousands of years to cross mountains and seas and go to the world. In the dialogue between Chinese and English civilizations, we use objects to convey feelings and a cultural heart to continue to show the true, three-dimensional and vivid charm of Chinese culture to the international community, and help China and foreign cultural exchanges and mutual learning to deepen and become more practical.
