The fourth season of the “CGTN Chinese Art Promotion Program” — The Aesthetics of Chinese Artifacts — has officially launched as a digital special exhibition. Centered on digital art exhibitions as its core format, the program is an international communication initiative dedicated to presenting compelling stories of Chinese culture. Through contemporary visual language and globally accessible narratives, it introduces audiences worldwide to the profound history and distinctive charm of Chinese civilization.
Previous seasons — A Millennium Tune: Figure Painting of the Song Dynasty, A Millennium Tune: Landscape and Flower-and-Bird Painting of the Song Dynasty, and Grand Tang Construction — have generated strong engagement both in China and internationally.
For four consecutive years, a team from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) has been invited to serve as academic advisor for the digital exhibitions, contributing scholarly expertise and content development. This season, The Aesthetics of Chinese Artifacts merges museological storytelling with cutting-edge digital media to vividly interpret the aesthetic traditions of Chinese artifacts across millennia — from the ritual totems of the Shang dynasty to the immortality aspirations embodied in Han lacquer and silk; from the grandeur of Tang gold and silverware to the philosophical refinement of Song ceramics. The exhibition decodes the technological systems, spiritual philosophies, and period aesthetics embedded within these objects.
For this season, Geng Shuo, Associate Professor at CAFA’s School of Humanities and the Art Archaeology Research Center, serves as Academic and Project Advisor. Together with graduate students Tang Yirui, Wang Ying, Chang Yiwen, Li Yuezhu, and Wang Ziyi, the faculty–student team once again played an integral role in curatorial planning and production.
Four Immersive Interactive Chapters
The exhibition’s four interactive sections integrate advanced digital technologies with in-depth artifact narratives, constructing an immersive “hall of civilization” that visitors can virtually enter:
“Form Mandated by Heaven” — experiencing the ritual order of Shang craftsmanship;
“A Dream of Immortality” — exploring the Han dynasty’s pursuit of eternal life;
“Radiance of a Flourishing Age” — attending a grand banquet in Tang Chang’an;
“Vessels of Pure Elegance” — appreciating the refined ceramic culture of the Song literati.
Animated Documentary Series
The project also features four animated documentary episodes — Shared Mandate of Heaven, Qi Soaring Through the Sky, Flowers Dancing in Chang’an, and After the Rain, the Sky Turns Azure. Blending Chinese-style animation with professional interpretation, the series reflects on how craftsmanship and artistic inspiration have traversed centuries, engaging in dialogue with the present.
Drawing upon archaeological discoveries from the Tomb of Lady Fu Hao of the Shang dynasty, the film reimagines the legendary story of King Wu Ding and Queen Fu Hao.
Through narrative fragments of Lady Xin Zhui’s life, it conveys reflections on life and death from over two thousand years ago.
From the perspective of a Tang dynasty Sogdian dancer, it illustrates Chang’an as a cosmopolitan metropolis defined by openness and vitality.
Inspired by folklore surrounding the creation of Ru kiln’s celebrated sky-blue glaze, it envisions the moment when one of the most iconic colors in Chinese aesthetics was born.
For four consecutive years, CGTN and CNN have collaborated to promote Chinese art through internationally oriented storytelling. Their jointly produced multimedia project, Material Evidence of Civilization, will be released in phases on CNN’s official website. The series includes three feature webpages — “Shang Civilization,” “Han Aesthetics,” and “Song Porcelain” — alongside co-produced micro-documentaries and interactive social media experiences.
The digital exhibition The Aesthetics of Chinese Artifacts was also showcased at the fourth edition of ART SG in Singapore, further expanding its international reach.
