Three full-size replica caves at the Getty Center provide visitors with a deeper understanding of the Mogao cave temple site.
The replica caves, created by artists from the Dunhuang Academy’s Fine Arts Institute, were constructed through a multiyear process. Initially, the purpose of replicating the caves was to understand the art and to document it as a means of preservation, but over time the goal became to share this art with people around the world unable to visit the caves themselves.
More about the exhibition “Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road,” on view at the Getty Center from May 7 to September 4, 2016:
www.getty.edu/CaveTemples