“Re-mounting ancient paintings is like asking a doctor for treatment after the illness gets worse… If the doctor is good, the patient can get rid of the disease and restore health; if the doctor is a quack with poor medical skills, it may lead to the death of the patient. Therefore, if you do not meet a good doctor, you should take no treatment as a reasonable method. Similarly, if you do not meet a master of painting mounting, it’s better for you to leave the piece as it is…” This is not only the opening of Zhuang Huang Zhi (Records of Mounting) by Zhou Jiazhou, a mounting master in the late Ming Dynasty, but also the faith and original aspiration that all the cultural relic “doctors” adhere to.

The preservation and restoration of cultural relics is a systematic and step-by-step process of research and practice, which should follow the basic principles of “authenticity”, “compatibility”, “minimum intervention”, “reversibility” and “identifiability”. The restorers should be clear about the concept of preservation and restoration of cultural relics, conform to the basic standards, and leave room for future generations to restore again. It is the original aspiration of cultural relic “doctors” to put the preventive preservation at the forefront of all preservation and restoration work.

Cultural relic “doctors” who are always working behind the scenes need to master both Chinese and Western theories of “healing” at the same time, integrating scientific and technological preservation techniques with traditional cultural relic restoration methods. On the premise of ensuring the intactness of cultural relics, they would give priority to non-destructive testing, and comprehensively assess the current situation and issues of the relics. Then, they select specific materials combined with traditional techniques to preserve and restore the artifacts. The cultural relic “doctors” are like time travelers, repairing the memory of cultural relics with their hands and letting the antiques tell immortal stories. They do not pursue fame or glory. Rather, they return to the basics, treat cultural relic preservation and restoration with sincerity, inherit culture with ingenuity, and restore the original look of history.

This exhibition will be divided into four parts according to the materials of cultural relics, and present general knowledge on preservation and restoration of (paper) calligraphy and painting, bamboo, wood and lacquerware, ceramics and metalwork. We allow you to view the relics up close, to give you a deeper understanding of the craft and to strengthen the roots of traditional Chinese culture.