Every March, hundreds of herons return to Yanjia village, Kangle county, Gansu province, bringing life to the ancient village. These graceful "messengers of spring" nest and raise their young in the poplar forest by the village, soaring and playing in the air.
On some of the murals inside the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu province is the iconic image of flying apsaras, celestial beings draped in diaphanous attire and billowing ribbons.
In the summer of 2017, Xie Xiaoze took part in a monthlong residency program at the Dunhuang Academy in Gansu province. The artist, who is also the Paul L.& Phyllis Wattis Professor of Art at Stanford University, spent a lot of time reading, thinking and creating.
The National Art Museum of China has reached out to its counterparts nationwide to collaborate on well-curated exhibitions in recent years to celebrate aesthetic traditions and cultural lineage passed down through the centuries.
