At the global stage of this year's Venice Biennale, the work Dunhuang · Con-stella-tion by Atelier Alter Architecture has been honored to be selected for the China Pavilion of the 19th Venice Biennale, becoming one of the 12 participating artworks. With Dunhuang and the starry sky as its themes, the work builds a bridge for cultural exchange between China and the West, and we are extremely fortunate to witness this moment of cultural integration. The China Pavilion of this Venice Biennale is curated by Mr. Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, bringing together 12 artists' works under the theme "CO-EXIST." It interprets the beautiful vision of interdependence and harmonious coexistence among diverse cultures, hoping that this exhibition will bring more cultural inspiration and artistic resonance to the world.
Since its initial carving on the Mingsha Mountain cliffs in 366 CE, the Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang evolved over millennia into a 1,600-meter-long cave complex. This sacred Buddhist art sanctuary not only embodies Eastern spirituality but also testifies to the convergence of civilizations along the Silk Road. Its multicultural DNA resonates profoundly with Venice's thousand-year legacy as a cultural entrepôt. Focusing on Cave 285 from the Western Wei period, we discover a brilliant celestial chart born from the collision of Greek, Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations - its four-sloped dome preserves the earliest documented star map of the Northern Hemisphere in human history
As a vital Silk Road hub since Han-Tang dynasties, Dunhuang assimilated and synthesized Indian Buddhist iconography, Sogdian musical traditions, Persian Zoroastrian symbolism, and Greek Gandharan sculptural arts. The grottoes showcase Indian lotus thrones juxtaposed with Persian fish-scale patterns, preserving sutras in over ten scripts including Chinese, Sogdian, and Syriac. The dome of Cave 285 constitutes a microcosm of civilizations: Sogdian solar and lunar deities, Indian Brahma and Ganesha, Chinese Fuxi and phoenix motifs, all interwoven through fluid lines and polychromatic brilliance to form a spiritual constellation transcending temporal-spatial boundaries.
Ancient astrological systems mirrored terrestrial order through celestial patterns, creating unique cognitive frameworks. The Tang-era Dunhuang Star Atlas reveals extraordinary cosmology, its Purple Forbidden Enclosure constellation aligning precisely with Chang'an's May night sky, synthesizing three astronomical schools' observations. This conceptualization of star charts as dynamic data fields engages in millennium-spanning dialogue with contemporary topological geometry's nonlinear cosmic understanding. Through artistic reinterpretation, the Dunhuang star map transforms into a "civilizational energy diagram": with geographic coordinates as origin points, four cultural nebulae - Indian Buddhism, Central Asian commerce, Persian art, and Greek statuary - converge to form a "cultural library" radiating enduring creative energy.
Reinterpreting these cultural codes through contemporary lens, Cave 285's dome reveals prophetic vision: civilizational symbols collide like stardust across spacetime, Indian Dharma wheels intertwining with Persian totems, Greek-style bodhisattvas waltzing with Han-era flying apsaras, generating new cultural ecologies beyond linear history. Atelier Alter Architects materializes this vision through a 12×8×6.5m spatial construct representing a three-dimensional star field. Utilizing metal spheres, meshes, and multicolored acrylic panels, the installation abstracts a nebula world encompassing five northern constellations and dust particles symbolizing Dunhuang artisans' brushstrokes. This sculptural apparatus responds to Venice Biennale's constellation of global architecture, offering contemporary expression to Dunhuang's "civilizational resonance" - mirroring Venice's panorama of cultural fluidity while echoing Dunhuang's millennial craftsmanship within topological space that bridges Etruscan and Eastern astrological dialogues.
This artificial galaxy reminds us: True cultural convergence isn't stylistic layering, but organic recombination of cultural DNA across spacetime. Like the Sinicization of foreign faces in murals or the phonetic transmutation of Sogdian in Buddhist texts, each "stardust" collision reshapes cultural topology. When digital-age fluidity encounters Dunhuang's millennial inclusivity, we finally comprehend: Civilization's essence lies not in clinging to origins, but in perpetual convergence and continual rebirth.
Installation Title: Dunhuang Con-stella-tion
Curated by: Ma Yansong (MAD)
Artists: Zhang Yingfan & Bu Xiaojun (Atelier Alter Architects )
Location: Chinese Pavilion, Venice Biennale
Materials: Metal spheres, metal rods, metal mesh, multi-colored acrylic
Dimensions: 12 × 8 × 6.5 meters
Photograph：Demone, Mint, Atelier Alter, Suhenda Demir, Li Chunchao
Year: 2025
