First China Thangka Art Festival opens in Lhasa

Thangka painting has a history of more than one thousand years, and is a unique art form in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Recently, the first China Thangka Art Festival opened in Lhasa.

The exhibition is an important activity of the first China Thangka Art Festival. The masterpieces of Thangka show highlight the exhibition in the Shatra Courtyard. In the two-storied Tibetan buildings around the courtyard, there are 11 showrooms with 203 masterpieces of excellent Thangka painting, collected from across the country.

"The festival is a grand showcase of Thangka art and a great stage for the artists. This is the first edition and it's a historic event in the art world of the Tibet Autonomous Region and China as a whole," said Han Shuli, president of Artists Assoc. of Tibet.

The festival has gathered artists of different generations and different styles under one roof. This artist is 82 years old and has brought his latest creation.

"The festival is a good initiative to promote the art of Thangka. It can raise people's awareness for the art. It's very important to preserve the traditional craft," an artist said.

"The festival offers great opportunities for artists to communicate with each other. I've met some great masters and I've learn a lot from them," another artist said.

Thangka painting has a history of 1,300 years. It is a religious art of gorgeous colors painted on cotton or paper depicting the life of Buddha. It has been listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.

Thangka painting is sometimes called scroll-painting. A Thangka painting can be as small as the palm of your hand, or so big that you need a mountain to fully showcase it. The world's largest one is 120 meters long and 85 meters wide. It took 10 masters more than nine years to finish.

The first Thangka Art Festival runs until Oct 9.