Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

'l'he 'l'eles,raph 4 Ma:t 1~ b3 • Treasures:Jtom China -.: j , ,, .. . ' "' ·,. \, . ~ . . !·. . ~ 'I . .... t · Mr Lu Shao Chen, with an ancient cro11bow beside one of the "entombed warriors" at the Cultural Centre. Picture: ROMAN BIEGI Warriors 'on guard' The "Entombed Warriors" of China to– day guard Brisbane's Cultural Centre In– stead of the tomb of the Chinese Emperor Qin Shlhuang. The nine warriors, life-sized statues estimated to be more than 2000-years-old, went on display at the Cultural Centre today, as part of a five– state Australian tour. In 1974, the clay army of about 7500 soldiers and horses was discovered by Chinese peasants while they were digging a well. The exhibition for the nine-month Australian tour was designed by Mike Bridges, of Brisbane. By MARY ELLEN HAND Mr Bridges, a stage designer who works under the business name Mi-Design was commissioned by the Australian International Cultural Corporation. The presentation involves the statues and repli– cas of weapons, a film about the Qin Dynasty and a darkened tunnel leading to the main display, al– lowing people to "discover" the statues for themselves. "The statues were ordered by Qin Shihuang to guard his tomb, because of his fear of death, and' it is estimated they took about 700,000 men 39 years to build," Mr Bridges said. "The beauty of them is each is an individual work - they were not cast in a mold." Painstakingly repaired About I0 yea rs after the warriors were buried, rebels raided the tombs, smashed the statues and stole the weapons, which they used to overthrow Qin's son and end the dynasty . Many of the statues had since been painstak– ingly repaired, he said. The exhibition is travelling under the care of the curator of the Bureau of Archaeological Rel– ics of the People's Republic of China, Mr Lu Shao Chen . It marks the 10th anniversary of the resump– tion of diplomatic ties between Australia and China. will continue in Brisbane until June 5.