Xiaoze Xie: Reimagining the Library Cave at Dunhuang marks the first U.S. museum presentation of the artist’s ambitious eight-year project Amber of History. This immersive exhibition reinterprets one of the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries of the 20th century—the Library Cave at Dunhuang—through a compelling synthesis of historical research, artistic innovation, and contemporary technology.
Discovered in 1900 within the Mogao Grottoes, the sealed cave once held more than 50,000 manuscripts, paintings, and artifacts dating from the 4th to 11th centuries. Often described as an “Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages,” its contents were later dispersed across institutions worldwide, leaving the cave completely empty. Xie responds to this history of discovery, fragmentation, and loss by reimagining the cave as a site of memory, knowledge, and cultural convergence.
Developed during and after his 2017 residency at the Dunhuang Academy, Xie’s multidisciplinary project encompasses ink painting, sculpture, installation, video, projection mapping, and virtual reality. At its center is a monumental fifteen-part scroll that combines calligraphy, diagrams, and cosmological imagery to explore material culture, language, belief, and philosophy. Extending painting into immersive and sculptural forms, Xie incorporates resin “amber” sculptures, video installations, and digital environments inspired by the Library Cave’s manuscripts, artifacts, and imagery, inviting visitors into evolving visions of history, memory, and the cosmos.
Curated by Dr. Tianlong Jiao, Chief Curator of the Bowers Museum, the exhibition integrates video installation Cosmic Models and “amber” sculptures in a new, Mandala-like configuration to create rich physical and spiritual experiences. A catalogue will be published in conjunction with the exhibition, with essays by noted scholars Wu Hung and Zhang Yuanlin. The exhibition and publication offer the U.S. audience an opportunity to gain insight into the intellectual depth and creative process of Xiaoze Xie’s significant project.
Xiaoze Xie: Reimagining the Library Cave at Dunhuang is organized by Bowers Museum and on loan from the artist. Major support for the exhibition is provided by Assumpta (Amy) Kiang and Nancy Xu. The exhibition catalogue is made possible by The Lou Foundation and Yilan Zhao.
