Must-see works at NGV’s Terracotta Warriors and Cai Guo-Qiang exhibition

This incredible timelapse shows how 10,000 porcelain birds were painstakingly hung from the National Gallery of Victoria’s roof for its Terracotta Warriors exhibition. WATCH THE VIDEO.

The majesty of China, past and present, is on full display at the National Gallery of Victoria.

The Winter Masterpieces exhibition, Terracotta Warriors and Cai Guo-Qiang, brings one of the world’s greatest archaeological discoveries to Melbourne.

Eight of the Qin Emporer’s Terracotta Warriors — discovered by accident in 1974 in China’s Shaanxi province — are on show, alongside ancient artefacts including two life-size horses from the Imperial Army and two replica bronze horse-drawn chariots.

They are complemented by the works of one of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists, Cai Guo-Qiang.

Guo-Qiang is known for his use of traditional Chinese materials like gunpowder, porcelain, silk and paper in his modern works.

Among them is the awe-inspiring Murmuration (Landscape), a whopping 10,000 porcelain birds installed to look like a flock flying through the NGV.

Take a look at this timelapse of how the piece came together:

It took many days of painstaking, back-breaking work to hang the birds from the roof of the NGV, with teams using cherry pickers to carefully install the art work.

Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality & Cai Guo-Qiang: The Transient Landscape brings together modern art with warriors that were part of a life-size terracotta army crafted and buried more than 2300 years ago to protect China’s first emperor in the afterlife.

They were found in an archaeological site uncovered by a group of peasant farmers digging for water in 1974.

The Terracotta Warriors may be mighty — but there are five other pieces those in the know will make a beeline for.

Senior curator of Asian Art Wayne Crothers takes us through his top five exhibits to look for.

Mythical creature, Eastern Han Dynasty 25—220 CE stone 216cm (length). Xi’an Beilin Museum, Xi’an

1. MYTHICAL CREATURE

Large stone beasts weighing several tons lined “spirit paths” leading to the tombs of emperors, royals and aristocrats to protect them in the afterlife.

These two magnificent Han dynasty examples stride forward with teeth displayed and powerful tails gracefully balanced behind.

Mythical Creature, Eastern Han Dynasty 25—220, Xi’an Beilin Museum, Xi’an

Goose, Qin dynasty 221—207 BCE bronze 26.5 x 50.5 x 22cm. Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology

2. GOOSE

About 1km from the main tomb mound, archaeologists discovered a large pleasure garden with an artificial lake.

Along a 60m stretch of adjoining riverbank where water would have previously flowed, 46 bronze birds — swans, cranes and geese — were discovered.

Goose, Qin dynasty 221—207, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology

The soldiers suggest a multicultural, multi-faith Western Han dynasty.

3. GROUP OF 10 SOLDIERS

More than 40,000 small-scale terracotta warriors were discovered and excavated during the 1990s from pits adjacent to the Han Yangling tomb of Emperor Jing.

Created 70 years after Qin Shihuang’s life-size terracotta warriors, they served the same purpose as tomb guardians but were of a scale that could be more practically produced.

The variety of faces suggest a multicultural nation and the many regions and ethnicities present in the Han dynasty army.

Group of 10 soldiers Western Han dynasty, 207 BCE — 9 CE, earthenware, Han Yangling Museum, Xianyang.

NGV art handlers install 10,000 porcelain birds for Cai Guo-Qiang’s Murmuration (Landscape). Picture: Eugene Hyland

4. MURMURATION (LANDSCAPE)

In this installation by Cai Guo-Qiang at NGV, an enormous flock of 10,000 porcelain starlings swarm overhead, teeming with might and momentum.

The starlings are creating a murmuration, a mesmerising phenomenon beyond full scientific comprehension where communication between individual birds allows huge flocks to move in a fluid state of synchronicity.

The form of the flock resembles a three dimensional shanshui landscape brush and ink painting, echoing the undulations of Mount Li.

According to ancient Chinese philosophy and feng shui, Mount Li is an important meridian in the region, leading Qin Shihuang to select it as the auspicious location for his tomb and his vast terracotta army.

Murmuration (Landscape), 2019, Cai Guo-Qiang.

Cai Guo-Qiang with Transiceence II, a new 31-meter gunpowder painting he created in Melbourne for the NGV exhibition. Picture: Jason Edwards

5. TRANSIENCE I (PEONY)

Peonies in full bloom have been an important motif in Chinese art for centuries, frequently appearing in brush and ink paintings and works of porcelain.

Captured at the peak of their beauty and perfection, they symbolise royalty, virtue, honour and wealth.

The peony’s beauty is fleeting, however — the flower blossoms for little over a week before it begins to wilt.

The making of gunpowder painting Transcience II (Peony) in Melbourne. Picture: Jason Edwards

MORE: GUNPOWDER LIVENS UP CONTEMPORARY ART AT NGV

HOW CAI GUO-QIANG BREATHES LIFES INTO TERRACOTTA WARRIORS

This gallery features two works by Cai GuoQiang.

The magnificent 360-degree gunpowder drawing, rendered on silk, captures the peony flower across the four stages of its life cycle: emergence of the bud, blooming, wilting and decay.

Transience I (Peony) 2019, Cai Guo-Qiang

Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality & Cai Guo-Qiang: The Transient Landscape is on until October 13.