https://www.wuhan.gov.cn/wwwz/wh_rywz/wh_rywz01/wh_rywz011/202512/t20251223_2699365.shtml

At the “New Materials for Painting – 2025 Chinese Painting Masters Invitational Exhibition”  in Wuhan, Hubei Province, all 70 Chinese paintings by contemporary calligraphers and artists were painted on “Xuan Fiber Paper,” a new material. The inspiration for this material was inspired by the national flag hoisted by the lunar probe Chang’e-6 on the moon.

At the exhibition venue, mountains, rivers, flowers, birds, fish, and insects changed appearance with the changes in light and shadow, and all 70 works shimmered like the surface of water. The secret lies in the revolutionary material used in the drawing paper: basalt fiber. According to Wang Tiehan, deputy director of the Silk and Painting Research Institute of Wuhan Textile University, original Xuan paper is said to have a lifespan of 1,000 years, but in hot and humid environments it is prone to mold, insect damage, yellowing, and embrittlement. Furthermore, because the fiber is soft, it is prone to deformation, wrinkles, and even damage when subjected to external forces. In Xuan fibre paper, three seemingly unrelated materials – paper, cloth, and stone – are blended . The paper retains Xuan paper’s distinctive light texture and ink-bleeding properties, while overcoming its traditional weaknesses of being easily damaged and flammable.

According to Professor Cao Tiansheng of Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Xuan paper-making techniques have matured through more than a thousand years of transmission. The fusion of traditional Xuan paper with cutting-edge scientific and technological materials is a fruitful exploration for the sustainable development of Xuan paper technology, and has brought new vitality to this millennia-old intangible cultural heritage of mankind.