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solving a giant art puzzle

Preserving Chinese culture and artifacts

History artifacts have sentimental value – they tell stories, and make people feel connected and reflective. Although the majority of art artifactes outlive people, not all of them make it through the course of time intact. What’s left is often a huge puzzle, with pieces of objects separated from one another and divorced from their original context. The DCADP team has taken a novel approach to restoring these broken connections, offering a new perspective on Chinese art.

Professor Wu Hung, Katherine Tsiang, Wei-Cheng Lin and their team of historians and technologists re-connect sites and artifacts using digital technology – an alternative approach to perceiving and sharing art, to build bridges between cultures. It no longer truly matters if parts of an art object are on different continents–they come together digitally and virtually making them accessible to anyone in the world.

20

art objects were completed for 3D scanning in Aug 2019

6th century

the oldest art object which was digitalized

3 weeks

the longest time it took to re-createone art object

1,000

people participated in “Exhibiting East Asian Art in the West” online symposium in 2021

Professor Wu Hung

“We use technology to tell new stories about Chinese art”

Professor Wu Hung

“We use technology to tell new stories about Chinese art”

the process of digital recreation

Examining fragments from the Longmen Grottoes, 2019

3d scanning of Figure of Wei Mo Chi (Vimalakīrti) from Longmen Grottoes, National Museum of Asian Art, 2019

3d scanning of coffered ceiling at Philadelphia Museum of Art, originally located in Zhihua Hall, Zhihua Temple, Beijing, 2019

meet the team

Prof. Wu Hung

Director of Center for the Art of East Asia, Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor, Consulting Curator for the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. He is the senior scholar of the team and his scholarship in both traditional and contemporary art has led him to integrate these into new kinds of art historical narratives and methodologies

Katherine Tsiang

Associate Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia and research project supervisor. Her research and project planning launched the first digitization projects at the Center

Wei-Cheng Lin

Associate Professor of the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago. He is the Project Director of the DCADP and his primary research interests are visual and material cultural issues in medieval Chinese art and Buddha art and architecture

Greg Panciera

Web and Software Developer who creates interactive informative experiences around the Center’s 3D cultural heritage projects for websites and digital exhibitions

Carol Ng-He

Center’s Digital Collections Curator who manages research and data related to the DCADP. Her work draws on her degrees and work experience in Art Education and Library and Information Science

Akari Rokumoto

Center Administrator who manages internal and external communication, center finances, and the day-to-day operations of the Center

How the Project empowers people to make a difference and inspire them to carry forward the spirit of giving back

1.

The projects have expanded the scope of study of the history of art to the modern period—to the removal of art objects from their original historical locations and relocation outside of China—promoting further understanding of colonialism, art collecting, and museum histories.

By recording and archiving dispersed artworks, and restoring them to their former locations, we are also ensuring the preservation of damaged cultural heritage sites for people to experience in the future.

2.

A former Ph.D. student who worked as a research assistant on the early digital imaging efforts is now teaching in China.

Inspired by his experience with the community of east Asian art studies at UChicago, he is organizing workshops and is taking an active role in promoting digital humanities projects.

3.

A program aired on Chinese television at the end of 2022 was focused on a group of important Buddhist cave temples and their fine stone sculptures that were taken in the early twentieth century and are now located outside China. It is very gratifying that the Center’s work on these caves is helping to bring broader attention to the sites and official support for full reporting and preservation of these important cultural heritage sites.

Scanning of the ceiling, which took 3 weeks to complete, on a 30ft high scaffolding

wei-cheng lin

DCADP Director

What do you feel most passionate about working on this Project?

I feel we’re doing something rather unprecedented, being able to see and show cultural artifacts from a perspective that is simultaneously historical and contemporary. From its conception to its final product, our digital project creates a paradigm that demonstrates a new way to marriage art and technology in the field of art history. I’m convinced that digitalization is the future of art historical research, and I am excited we’re at the forefront of the development. 

What was the biggest challenge you had to find a way to tackle?

When turning a physical object into a digital format, digital technology creates new possibilities but concurrently raises new issues regarding the status of digital objects. Not necessarily perceivable on the viewer’s end, the digitization of cultural heritage raises questions about, for instance, authenticity, virtuality, copyrights, etc., uncharted territory for digital projects such as ours. This project has not been merely “digital” but involves the reconceptualization of art from various disciplinary stances. 

before

Missing ceiling in the Buddha Hall

after

The ceiling was digitally recreated

before

Missing ceiling in the Buddha Hall

after

The ceiling was digitally recreated

Would you like to know more about the Project?

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