The second edition of a major Tibetan intangible cultural heritage exhibition opened on April 29 at Beijing's Beihai Park, featuring over 500 handicrafts and cultural products from Rangtang county in Sichuan province.
Organizers and guests pose for a group photo at the opening of a Tibetan intangible cultural heritage exhibition in Beihai Park, Beijing, April 29, 2025. [Photo courtesy of the Rangtang Intangible Cultural Heritage Center]
The exhibition, jointly hosted by the county government and Beijing Tourism Group, runs through early June at the former imperial garden, which is marking its 100th anniversary of opening to the public.
This year's exhibition has more than doubled in size, featuring over 500 works in 22 categories compared with last year's event, which showcased 200 exhibits across 11 categories and drew more than 120,000 visitors.
The exhibition highlights masterpieces of traditional craftsmanship from Rangtang county in Sichuan's Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture. Featured works include traditional painting, metalwork, ceramics, weaving and dyeing, embroidery, and wood and stone carving.
A standout feature of the exhibition is the innovative "Thangka + Porcelain Painting" series, where over a dozen artists skilled in traditional Tibetan Buddhist scroll painting spent three years in Jingdezhen, a world-famous porcelain city in Jiangxi province. There, they merged Thangka art with ceramic techniques to create the "Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin" porcelain panel collection.
Visitors can also watch master artisans demonstrate traditional painting and weaving techniques through live workshops. A new section showcasing contemporary adaptations of Buddhist motifs into fashion accessories aims to attract younger audiences.
The exhibition is organized by the Rangtang Intangible Cultural Heritage Center, founded by Jamyang Lodro Rinpoche, a national-level inheritor of a Tibetan Buddhist music genre. Starting with a single facility offering free painting classes to disadvantaged children in 2010, the initiative has grown to 47 training centers teaching traditional skills ranging from medicine to ceramics, with additional branches in major cities including Shanghai.
Jamyang Lodro, founder of the Rangtang Intangible Cultural Heritage Center, speaks to China.org.cn while introducing artworks on display at a Tibetan intangible cultural heritage exhibition in Beihai Park, Beijing, April 30, 2025. [Photo/China.org.cn]
The remote Rangtang county, once among China's poorest regions, has turned to its cultural heritage to drive economic development after years of isolation and industrial underdevelopment. The initiative has revived community pride, trained over 1,000 young people, and advanced poverty relief and rural revitalization while promoting heritage preservation and cultural tourism.
The centers have trained 174 representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage over the past decade. To provide career opportunities for these artisans, the county has also launched an innovation park that develops heritage-based products ranging from paintings to herbal care items.
The county now sells Thangka paintings, ceramic art, Tibetan medicinal baths and herbal care items nationally and internationally, generating annual sales exceeding 10 million yuan ($1.4 million). The initiative has boosted incomes for more than 3,000 local farmers and herders.
The heritage centers have held exhibitions in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hangzhou, featuring more than 100 works that blend traditional craftsmanship with modern design. In 2023, the government designated Rangtang as a national pilot zone for cultural industry-driven rural revitalization.
Jamyang Lodro told China.org.cn that while most students at the centers come from farming and herding families, many have become accomplished artists through specialized training programs lasting up to eight years. The center offers full scholarships and living stipends to ensure students from poor backgrounds can complete their training.
Rangtang's centers have partnered with top institutions, including Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, the Central Conservatory of Music and various museums. These partnerships have broadened students' skills while connecting Qinghai–Xizang Plateau traditions with the wider world. The trainees now serve as bridges between traditional culture and modern industries, helping integrate ancient arts into the contemporary creative economy.
Artworks on display at a Tibetan intangible cultural heritage exhibition in Beihai Park, Beijing, April 30, 2025. [Photo/China.org.cn]
Jamyang Lodro said each piece represents a personal journey: young people who overcame difficult backgrounds to transform their lives through art and tradition.
"It's about loving and understanding life itself," he said, emphasizing his vision of not only nurturing their skills but also their inner being. "They came to know themselves better through these traditional arts and discovered their true selves."
He noted that Chinese arts must maintain their authenticity when shared internationally. "Through all our works, we clearly show them who we are. We turn inward, not outward. If your artworks merely mimic Western art, international audiences won't respect you. We have our own philosophy, inner meaning and artistic traditions. We have our own charm. That's what they respect. From there, we can have cultural dialogue."
京公网安备 11010802027341号