Sculpting the clouds, the embracing mountain
Conceived by the ANR Altergraphy project team, this exhibition invites the public to discover a corpus of medieval inscriptions in mountainous environments, based on a variety of sources: original stamps, engraved seal stones, photographs, models... The public will have the opportunity to survey four inscribed landscapes through the eyes of their producers in the 6th century, but also through the eyes of successive visitors - picnickers, antiquarians, religious figures - at different moments in the reception of these medieval inscribed landscapes.
Exhibition "Sculpting the clouds, the embracing mountain" (觸石吐雲)
Our journey begins with the biography of Zheng Daozhao, an official who composed a series of cliff inscriptions in the 6th century CE. His writings, carved into the rock in four mountains in what is now Shandong province, are dedicated to the memory of his father, home to a combination of rock formations and altars dedicated to Taoist deities.
Visitors will be rare, and these inscriptions have been promoted mainly through estampages - ink reproductions on paper - , particularly in the 19th century, in a literate attempt to deconstruct the calligraphic canon and the search for new epigraphic models. It was then that Zheng Daozhao became the "Sage of Northern Calligraphy", a narrative we set out to deconstruct... This is why the tour ends with a "Manifesto for the Death of the Calligrapher".
On the one hand, we invite you to walk with us along the itinerary of one individual's appropriation of four mountains in medieval times. On the other, we trace the evolution of the relationship with mountains between the early and late imperial period through a series of sculptural and visual works. To apprehend these four inscribed landscapes, we have mobilized contemporary and archival photographs, various cartographic means, evolving models, original stamps and engraved seal stones, in order to reconstitute a holistic vision of the mountain.
Throughout the tour, you will be invited to project yourself into roles and adopt different viewpoints: that of a 6th-century official, a 19th-century scholar, or even a contemporary visitor.
Exhibition organized by Lia Wei and Kento Ashikari, Francesca Berdin, Killian Cahier, Anna Le Menach, Paula Suméra and Tchou-Tchou Tophoven, with the participation of Laurent Long, Marie-Françoise Plissart, Sakata Gensho and Taneya Senshu.
Echoing the workshop Sinographic Forays into the Epiverse (October 15-16, 2024).
Guided tours and workshop
Guided tours of the exhibition will be offered by student members of the Altergraphy project at the following times:
- Thursday 10 October, 12 noon to 1pm and 5pm to 6pm
- Thursday 17 October 12 noon to 1pm and 5pm to 6pm
- Thursday 24 October from 12 noon to 1pm and from 5pm to 6pm
The meeting point is at the entrance to the Gallery.
In conjunction with the exhibition, a seal engraving workshop, led by Laurent Long, will be offered to students in initial training on 11 and 18 October from 3pm to 5pm (registration to follow).
Contacts: lia.wei@inalco.fr / evenementiel@inalco.fr
