Liu Xuanrang（China）

The Soul of the Takla Makan Desert-The Twelve Muqam / Color on silk / 380cm×960cm

Appreciation: Music is the voice from human mind. Muqam is a classical musical mode and set of melodic formulas used in the music of Xinjiang Uygur, that is, an achievement of cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, expressing the aspiration of the people in Xinjiang for generations. In the painting The Soul of the TaklaMakan Desert – The Twelve Muqam, by Chinese artist Liu Xuanrang, a group of Xinjiang Uygur folk artists, in the vast desolate Taklamakan Desert, play Muqam with passion and sing the song of life in the "sea of death". The black and white sketch effect, ink flavor and grayish yellow tone throughout the screen enhance the illusion of a surreal dream in playing Muqam.（Wang Yong）

Liu Xuanrang was born in Shaanxi Province in 1955, graduated from Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts and now works as a painter, professor, and master’s superviser of the Chinese Painting Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts. He has participated in“The Fifth National Exhibition of Chinese Hue Art Paintings”(2002) (won the silver award),“The Fourth National Exhibition of Modern Chinese Realistic Paintings”(1998), and“The Eighth / Ninth National Exhibition of Fine Arts”.