Culture Beat: ‘Rise’ exhibition to showcase dragon

Photo: Courtesy of UOB Art Gallery

The dragon-scale bookbinding is a traditional Chinese way of bookbinding with a history of over 1,000 years. Passed down from generation to generation, the completed artworks are known to resemble dragons as each page looking like a scale. 

The art form, which showcases the art and wisdom of ancient Chinese people, will be on display at a new exhibition featuring new works by inheritor Zhang Xiaodong at Shanghai's UOB Art Gallery. 

Zhang's new exhibition Rise, which is set to open to the public in mid-September, reveals his innovation and exploration as the traditional art meets modern life. 

His paintings explore the ­concept of breathing in Chinese art. 

A highlight of the exhibition will be his dragon-scale bookbinding version of the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber, a recreation of 230 images of scholar Sun Wen from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).