HZAU students celebrated Youth Day in a special way on May 4. They walked into the exhibition hall to enjoy the literature exhibition featuring science and arts, titled “Talking to Zhang Heng and Leonardo da Vinci”. With questions and imagination, they reflect on science and arts in the special conversation with the two great men.
The exhibition hall. [Photo/Zhang Dong]
“This exhibition is very meaningful, especially on Youth Day. It not only pleases the visual sense and helps expand knowledge, but also touches the heart of the visitors.” Bu Ziqi, a student from the College of Plant Science & Technology, said excitedly.
Books, excerpts, mock-ups and art installations in the exhibition all provide visitors with an immersive experience. In the two exhibition sections, literature related to the two great masters were unveiled, allowing visitors to get enlightened by science and arts. To improve exhibiting experience, the exhibition showed a series of questions raised by the faculty and students on the upright post device, and displayed a set of large “question mark” installations made out of everyday objects.
Faculty and students visit the exhibition together. [Photo/Luan Ailin]
In the center of the east exhibition area, there were five colorful cubes. Zhang Heng’s inventions, which signified his aesthetics of harmony, like armillary sphere, seismograph, compass chariot, li-drum-hodometer and sundial, were introduced in terms of appearance, principle and structure with illustrations on the cubes. Zhang’s remarkable attainment in literature and art is also highlighted with abundant exhibits, including the reproductions of his literary masterpieces like Xijing Fu, Dongjing Fu and Nandu Fu.
In the western exhibition area, there were classic artworks and manuscripts of Leonardo da Vinci. Based on the biography Leonardo da Vinci written by the famed biographer Walter Isaacson, the curatorial team organized this exhibition. Sixteen works of art by da Vinci were chosen from the library’s database and other electronic resources, and the famous Mona Lisa and The Last Supper were printed on a giant exhibition wall with commentaries on the scientific principles in artistic creation. The curators also carefully selected some manuscripts from Codex Hammer and displayed reproductions in numerous fields including astronomy, mechanics, and medicine. Besides, the well-known Vitruvian Man appeared on a three-sided interactive installation, displaying the science of beauty in the proportion of human body. This exhibition also included mock-ups like flying machines, flying pendulum clocks, and da Vinci code, as well as relevant books in the library collection.
Mock-ups of inventions by Leonardo da Vinci [Photo/Zhang Dong]
“As an agricultural student, it is more important to pursue truth and beauty. We need to have a curious mind and learn beyond our major for all-round development”, said Bu Ziqi. And Xie Yuena, a student from the College of Public Administration, was attracted by the questions in the exhibition hall. She said, “These questions immediately close the distance between the visitors and the exhibition. When I think about these questions, I also think of the ‘New Liberal Arts’ construction currently promoted by the Chinese government. For students of arts, they need to learn from the two great men and actively respond to the needs and interests of the development of philosophy and social sciences in the new era.”
Source: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2022/0506/63229.shtml
Translated by: Deng Qingqing
Supervised by: Guo Haiyan
