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| Oil painter Khaimchig Zayat from Mongolia studies a rubbing piece of the Yinshan cliff paintings. (China Daily/Wang Kaihao) |
Thousands of cliff paintings in Inner Mongolia's Bayannur provide a glimpse of nomadic people's life in Northern China dating from 10,000 years ago to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), which was established by the Mongols.
Though they were first recorded in the 5th century, serious research on the paintings only began in the 1970s. Bayannur municipal government announced in late 2012 that the paintings are among China's new candidates for the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
"These cliff paintings are our lost collective memory," Zhang, once a successful antique collector, says. "The histories of Huns, Turks, Mongols and many other people are embedded there. As our country endeavors to make the cultural industry boom, I think it is time to do something more meaningful."
He gathered some local artists and asked them to use modern methods to create new works inspired by the simple lines and circles painted on the cliffs. He also invited about 10 artists from Mongolia and Russia to join his 30-strong artistic adventure squad, explaining the project "has to cross the national boundary for a creation that concerns the whole of the grassland".
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