SATV, Gansu, September 30 (Zhao Wenhua) — On September 28, the "Silk Road Heritage Digital Art Works Touring Exhibition," a key funded project of the 2026 National Arts Fund for Communication, Exchange and Promotion, opened at the Gaotai County Museum in Zhangye City, Gansu Province. The project is guided by the Liaoning Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, hosted by Northeastern University, and co-organized by multiple universities, cultural tourism institutions, and museums. An academic exchange conference on Silk Road heritage digital art was held concurrently.
The ancient Silk Road is an important bond of human civilization exchange and a profound cultural root of the Belt and Road Initiative. Due to wind and sand erosion and geographical constraints, many Silk Road heritage sites are difficult to fully present to the public. Using digital technology to revitalize cultural heritage has become an important direction for inheriting China's outstanding traditional culture.
It is understood that the project is led by Northeastern University, bringing together interdisciplinary experts, cultural and museum institutions, and other forces. It took fifteen years to complete a series of digital art achievements covering Silk Road heritage sites across the entire region. The project team has long traveled to areas along the Silk Road to conduct field surveys and historical research, overcoming multiple technical challenges such as scale restoration of ancient sites, dynamic restoration of murals, and digital reproduction of ancient music and dance. Relying on digital technologies such as 3D digital twins and immersive light and shadow interaction, the team has carried out digital archiving and artistic reconstruction of endangered Silk Road sites, transforming precious relics into digital works that can be viewed, interacted with, and permanently preserved, achieving "permanent digital protection and innovative popular inheritance."
At the accompanying academic exchange lecture, participating experts watched a documentary short film on the project's creation, listened to introductions on the digitalization path of heritage sites and the overall planning of the touring exhibition, and conducted exchanges and discussions on the cultural value of Silk Road digital art and the paths for heritage protection and dissemination, forming constructive opinions and providing academic support for subsequent national touring exhibitions and achievement transformation. The event also included a full-media interview session to interpret the project model and digital cultural heritage protection practices.
Liu Guangyuan, Director of the Department of Arts at Northeastern University and doctoral supervisor, said that the national-level digital art touring exhibition coming to Gaotai is both a tribute to the Silk Road cultural lineage and an important practice of revitalizing Silk Road heritage through technological art. He introduced that the project relies on the National Arts Fund platform to break down the practical barriers between theoretical research and digital cultural creativity. It is not limited to holding exhibitions but also undertakes the social mission of cultural relic popularization. Facing the reality of natural weathering of Silk Road sites and the difficulty of visiting some relics on site, the team hopes to use digital art works to lower the threshold for the public to learn about Silk Road heritage, awaken the whole society's awareness of cultural relic protection, and promote the passing down of Silk Road cultural lineage from generation to generation.
"Digital technology is not only a means of exhibition but also a carrier for cultural relic archiving. Even if physical sites are damaged, digital archives can still be permanently preserved," said Zhang Puran, Executive Curator. He introduced that the creative team adheres to two principles: first, insisting on zero deviation in historical research, with all restored content based on archaeological historical materials and physical relics to ensure historical authenticity; second, insisting on youthful artistic expression, using modern forms such as light and shadow and interactive imaging to bring young people closer to Silk Road civilization.
It is reported that this touring exhibition adopts a "offline touring + online dissemination" model, and will continue to output Silk Road digital cultural content, expand the influence of Silk Road cultural dissemination, and help promote Belt and Road civilization exchange and mutual learning. The exhibition is now open for reservations by citizens, teachers and students, and cultural, museum, and tourism enthusiasts.
