19/08/2026
: Jebum-gang Art Center, Lhasa, China
: "Liu Wei: Tulip" Part I
The Jebum-gang Art Center, originally built as the Jebum-gang Lhakhang in the latter half of the 19th century, is the only surviving ancient building in Lhasa with a three-dimensional mandala layout. Listed as a Lhasa municipal-level cultural relic protection unit, it houses a large number of Qing Dynasty murals. In 2018, the local cultural and tourism authorities launched restoration work on the historic site. Later in 2020, the Chengguan District Government of Lhasa partnered with the Xizang's cultural and art brand "Tihho" to redevelop it into the Jebum-gang Art Center under the concept of "public welfare-oriented adaptive reuse of ancient architecture and co-construction of public cultural venues."
Liu Wei's debut solo exhibition in Xizang, "Liu Wei: Tulip", officially opened at the Jebum-gang Art Center on April 30, 2026, and remains on view through September 19. Stemming from the artist's childhood unexpected insight into the tulip's place of origin, the exhibition features cross-media pieces crafted from varied materials including yak butter, milk, stone and metal, constructing a "theater of perception" that feels both near and distant inside this century-old historic building with a three-dimensional mandala layout.
These installations do not stand in isolation, but strike a powerful dialogue with the ancient building itself. Dispersed across the mandala's interior space—evoking clustered urban forms, disparate corporeal shapes, and the coexistence of nebulae, fixed stars, meteors and interstellar dust across the cosmos—the works echo the multifaceted perceptions Liu Wei gained in Xizang.
Meanwhile, the Qing Dynasty murals preserved within the ancient edifice cohabit the same space alongside contemporary artworks. These highly light-sensitive cultural relics rely on the AKZU Tracron M3 museum tracklights and their precise illuminance regulation to achieve balanced visibility, integrating organically into the exhibition narrative. As visitors move their sight from a faded mural to a neighboring installation, the light shifts subtly between warm and cool hues. The devotional imagery crafted centuries ago and modern perceptual experiments converge under one soft beam of light, sharing the vital aura of this mandala space.
Project product: AKZU Tracron M3 museum tracklights
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