“Science and art part ways at the foot of the mountain,
only to meet again at the summit.”

On the stage of the 2025 CCTV Science Gala, leading scientists and industry pioneers gathered — alongside a special guest from the arts: Lin Mao, President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). With imagination-driven storytelling, he explored the moment when technology and art converge at the “peak.”

“Science gives stronger wings to art,” Lin said, “and when art joins the conversation, science gains warmth — a power that touches people more directly.”

Arriving on stage as though “from another world,” Lin appeared aboard a futuristic flying craft designed by CAFA design students. Blending computational precision with artistic aesthetics, the work offered a vivid answer to the question of how technology and art can merge.

So what happens when science meets art?

Lin guided the audience on a “journey through time and space,” traveling from reality into the painted world of the masterpiece A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains. Algorithms became a kind of “magic,” animating the ancient scroll with drifting clouds, flowing streams, and lights rising and falling with the mountains — reviving a landscape that can be visited, inhabited, and felt.

CAFA also curated a special exhibition titled “Reading the Soil”, which explored the mysteries hidden in lunar samples. Scientists examined the lunar soil through microscopes, while artists enlarged the microscopic images into large-scale photographic works and created accompanying AR experiences.

By scanning the images with a mobile phone, visitors could view a three-dimensional reconstruction of lunar soil, interact with it, observe cross-sections like scientists do, and access additional science-popularization content.

“When we used the great power of technology to travel 380,000 kilometers and bring back over 1,000 grams of lunar soil,” Lin reflected, “what did we gain besides scientific data? Art tells us this: we gained a mirror of the universe. By reading the Moon, we better understand the preciousness and uniqueness of the blue planet we live on.”

“We firmly believe that the most exciting innovations of the future will emerge at the intersection of science and art. When the rational light of science meets the emotional flame of art, their fusion illuminates unknown paths, enabling miracles beyond imagination — leading humanity together toward a magnificent summit where art and science truly unite.”

Source: China Media Group (CMG)