Source: CCTV.com

07-31-2008 08:58

Nearly 13,00 traditional Thangka paintings have come all the way from the Tibet Autonomous Region to the Chinese capital for a showing, unprecedented in scale. The exhibition is called, "Thangkas on the Epic of Gesar." The showing is dedicated to the epic tale of Tibetan hero "Gesar." It opened at the Beijing Cultural Palace for Nationalities, Wednesday morning as a key program of the Olympic Culture Festival.

Nearly 13,00 traditional Thangka paintings have come all the  way from the Tibet Autonomous Region to the Chinese capital for a showing, unprecedented in scale.

The series of paintings depicts the Life of King Gesar. It's based on a Tibetan heroic tale. The tale of King Gesar is considered the world's longest epic, passed down orally by ballad singers and lyricists for centuries. The works in the present exhibition took more than 100 Tibetan folk painters five years to complete.

The project cost more than 32 million yuan, or 4.6 million U.S. dollars. The investment came from the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and other civilian funds. It's said to be the biggest Thangka art project ever - based on scale and technique.

Each painting is two-meters long and 1.4-meters wide. Each underwent eight separate processes, all done by hand. That includes the gold outlines and brocade mounting.