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Professor Zhao Shutong visits Weta
About Professor Zhao Shutong:
During the cultural revolution when Chairman Mao sent out the Red Army, mainly young party enthusiasts who swept across the land destroying every cultural relic they could lay their hands on, Mr Zhao single-handedly went out into the country covertly and claimed as many ancient relics as he could physically achieve over a 30 year period. He systematically moved ahead of the Red Army getting and concealing hundreds of thousands of historical artifacts from Chinese history, and hid them for 20 years.
Now that China is emerging Mr Zhao has revealed these to the Government and in celebration of what he achieved the Government has given him the facilities to store them safely and securely. Mr Zhao has not sold one item and any one of the rarest items are worth hundreds of millions of dollars on the antique market.
Professor Zhao Shutong from China's Sichuan province is currently visiting Wellington, at the joint invitation of Weta Workshop, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade and New Zealand's National Museum, Te Papa Tongarewa.
Profesor Zhao is highly esteemed as a guardian of China's incredible heritage of art and culture. Throughout the cultural revolution, he has been the caretaker of an enormous treasure trove of Chinese artefacts, hundreds of thousands of individual pieces, some dating back as far as 4,000BC.
Zhao Shutong has long been an inspiration to Richard Taylor and to the sculptors at Weta Workshop. A book of his sculptures has long been used by Richard as a central piece of reference in Weta's sculpting room.
A chance meeting in a Chengdu street when Richard Taylor and Greg Broadmore visited the Chinese province of Sichuan brought the two men together. Richard and Greg were there to open the Exceptional Exhibition, an exhibition of Weta's creativity where the proceeds were donated in support of the Sichuan EarthQuake Relief fund.
Richard Taylor describes the encounter:
"There are 1.4 billion people in China. We were there for 9 days and happened upon the man that did the work in the book I wave around in the sculpting room at Weta. Standing in the cold under a drab grey sky with puddles of water around him and a chunk of crude red clay on an old turn table. An incredible coincidence."
"Mr Zhao's significance in China became truly aware to us as every press person attending the opening followed him around the exhibition filming him and talking to him. It turns out he is recognized as a national treasure and the Michelangelo of China,"
"We are overwhelmed to receive him as our guest here in Wellington. He is a devoted sentinel of the arts in every sense."
Most useful user comments
04/06/10
Weta Fan
Sculpture book from Professor Zhao?
As Richard was saying,"...happened upon the man that did the work... Read more.
As Richard was saying,"...happened upon the man that did the work in the book I wave around in the sculpting room at Weta."
What book is that? and how can I find it? ;P thanks! Hide.
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