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A craftsman makes a butter sculpture in Kangxung township of Rinbung county in Shigatse, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, March 27, 2014. There are about 100 butter sculpture craftsmen in Kangxung because of the growing need in market. Butter Sculpture is an ancient and unique genre of art in Tibet which was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council in 2006.[Photo/Xinhua]
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Before sculpting, monk artists must wash and take part in a religious ritual. Then, they begin to discuss the theme of the butter sculpture. After setting the theme, they elaborate on the concept, planning and layout of the butter sculpture. During this process, the work is distributed among the monks. When all of the preparatory work is complete, the artists enter rooms at a temperature of 0℃ and begin working.
They use tools like hollow bones for making long threads and molds for making leaves, but their most important utensils are their fingers, so to make sure they are cold enough not to melt the artwork while modeling, monks constantly have to dip their hands in ice water.
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