The exhibition "The Greatest Skills of Shu: Intangible Cultural Heritage of Sichuan", showing the colourful Sichuan intangible cultural heritage (ICH), as well as the unrelenting efforts of Sichuan residents in preserving their cultural traditions, will run from tomorrow (June 15) to June 21 at the Exhibition Gallery of Hong Kong Central Library.

Sichuan, historically known as the "land of abundance", is rich in historical and cultural resources. Despite the devastating earthquake on May 12, 2008, which killed thousands of people, the local residents have carried on with their Sichuan traditions and continued to preserve and develop their unique ICH.

The exhibition is composed of three major parts. The first and second parts introduce "The Chengdu Declaration" and "The Chengdu Initiative" respectively, and both demonstrate the determination of the Chinese and international communities in safeguarding ICH. The third part presents 24 representative items of Sichuan ICH such as the woodblock new year printing technique from Mianzhu, the lacquer technique from Chengdu, the palm weaving technique from Xinfan, Xu-style painted sculpture and more through texts, exhibits and photos. Twenty-one of the items have been inscribed onto the National List of ICH.

To enrich the contents of the exhibition, representative bearers of nine items on the National List of ICH have been invited to Hong Kong to present live demonstrations of traditional craftsmanship in order to deepen visitors' understanding of Sichuan ICH. They are the woodblock new year printing technique from Mianzhu, the bamboo weaving technique from Qingshen, Shu embroidery, Xu-style painted sculpture, Qiang ethnic group embroidery, wool textiles of the Yi ethnic group, silver jewellery of the Yi ethnic group, and Kama Gazi Thangka and Xinlong Tibetan medicinal mud masks. Demonstrations will take place at the Exhibition Gallery of Hong Kong Central Library from 9am to 11am and from 3pm to 5pm daily from tomorrow until June 21.

In addition, a talk entitled "The Rich and Diverse Intangible Cultural Heritage of Sichuan Province", to be given by Professor Li Xianglin from Sichuan University, will be held from 2.30pm to 5.30pm on Saturday (June 16) at Activity Room 1 of Hong Kong Central Library. To be conducted in Putonghua, the talk is limited to 80 participants and free to join. Interested parties may visit the webpage of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum at www.heritagemuseum.gov.hk/eng/programmes/public.aspx for online application. For enquiries, please call 2180 8260.

The exhibition and the talk are two major programmes of the cultural event entitled "Genesis and Spirit: A Showcase of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Sichuan", which is presented by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China and the Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, organised by the Department of Culture of Sichuan Province and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and held in association with Hong Kong United Arts Entertainment Co Ltd.

Hong Kong Central Library is located at 66 Causeway Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. The Exhibition Gallery opens from 9am to 7pm daily. Admission to the exhibition is free.

Source: www.info.gov.hk