The final session of the "2024 Cultural Heritage Lecture Series" – "Qinba Mountains – Han River · Tile-Roofed Halls · Vermilion Art: Conservation and Restoration of Five Northern Provinces’ Assembly Hall Murals" – was held yesterday. Organised by the Macao Cultural Heritage Reinventing Studies Association (MCHRSA) with funding from the Cultural Development Fund (FDC), the event featured Ms. MA Linyan, Chief of the Conservation and Restoration Department II at Shaanxi Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, as the keynote speaker. Using the murals of the Five Northern Provinces’ Assembly Hall (the Hall) in Ziyang, Shaanxi, as a case study, she delivered an insightful presentation on mural conservation and restoration.
Held at the Macao Museum Auditorium yesterday afternoon (19 July 2024) at 2:30 pm, this concluding lecture aimed to foster scholarly exchange while heightening public interest in heritage conservation. Mr. LAM Weng Ka, Director General of the MCHRSA, stated that the lecture not only provided a platform for experts to share knowledge but also deepened residents’ understanding of the historical context, artistic features, and conservation techniques involved in preserving murals of the Hall. It reinforced public awareness of the shared responsibility to safeguard these cultural treasures – each mural bearing profound historical and cultural significance, requiring collective societal effort to ensure its transmission to future generations.
Epitome of Ming-Qing Architectural Art
As masterpieces of ancient Chinese mural art, the murals of the Hall carry immense historical and cultural significance. Ms. MA examined the unique appeal and comprehensive conservation process through the case study of the murals of the Hall in Ziyang County, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province. These murals not only embody the architectural excellence of the Ming and Qing dynasties but also serve as vital material evidence for studying regional cultural exchange and integration.
Ms. MA systematically outlined the conservation process through multiple dimensions: iconographic analysis, value assessment, preservation status, and on-site investigation. She emphasised the critical role of preliminary research, including non-invasive high-tech analysis to accurately assess preservation conditions, alongside historical documentation and field surveys to comprehensively evaluate the artistic, historical, and social value of the murals. This meticulous groundwork, she noted, laid a solid foundation for subsequent conservation interventions.
