Kathmandu:

Zhan Weiyuan’s Tibet is in black and white, and perhaps that’s more than enough.

Using the ancient oriental art of wood engraving he has portrayed his interpretation of Tibet in cuts and lines that tell of tales hidden from the eye.

An exhibition of Zhang Weiyuan’s White and Black Wood Engraving on Tibet is on at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited from December 4.

The novelty of such an ancient art leaves one gaping as the intricate lines merge then separate and merge again to give you glimpses of a country that one has perhaps seen in photographs or in one’s Tibetan neighbour observing the age-old rituals.

The exhibition of 29 artworks covers a gamut of the Tibetan life — landscape, people, culture, way of life. The titles of the paintings give a gist of what the paintings are all about — ‘Travelling Tibetan drummer’, ‘Tibetan woman in winter sun’, ‘Archers’ day in Tibet’.

‘Life like emerging grass’ will not fail to impress someone who visits the exhibition. The faces hidden in the blades of grass tell a story of their own. Perhaps ‘Faith moves mountains’ of a man lying prostate on the ground, paying his obeisance to the power above will stir some unnamed feelings even in the most unbelieving of viewers, while the eyes of a ‘Shy Tibetan woman’ will follow you even as you walk out of the gallery. (The exhibition is on till December 15)