Tourists visit the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province on Oct. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/ Zhang Xiaoliang)

A lecture featuring the art of China's Dunhuang Grottoes was held in Australia's Sydney on Monday, taking the audiences on an in-depth cultural tour of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

The lecture, hosted by the China Cultural Center in Sydney in collaboration with the Art Gallery of New South Wales, was presented by Zhao Shengliang, director of the Academic Committee of Dunhuang Academy.

In the hour-long lecture, Zhao dived deep into the excavation, format, and majestic artistic characteristics embodied in the Dunhuang Grottoes, particularly Dunhuang mural painting arts, and its wide influence along the Silk Road.

He also briefed the audiences about the international cooperation on research and preservation, and the digital project which could help with the data preservation of the cultural relics and provide virtual access to the art treasury.

Zhao said Dunhuang Grottoes art is a vivid portrayal of the cultural exchanges and mutual learning between the East and the West. He hoped the exhibition of Dunhuang Grottoes could also be staged in Australia in the future.

Home to more than 2,000 colored sculptures and 45,000 square meters of frescoes, the Mogao Caves, located in Dunhuang in northwest China's Gansu Province, were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

"I visited Dunhuang back in 2005, and I was very impressed," said Ronand Schnewl, one of the over 300 lecture attendees.

He told Xinhua that he became interested in Chinese history around ten years ago, but it was very confusing for Westerners because of the language and different names of the dynasties.

"So this lecture is very helpful. I really appreciate having a lecture like this, by someone who is a professor and very knowledgeable, which can give me more insight into the history," he said. 

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