A fresco in Cave 285 of China's Mogao Grottoes. [Photo/public.dha.ac.cn]

Wu Jian, director of the cultural relic digital research department of the Academy mentioned the importance of digital techniques to the replication. He said that his department had done digital data collection, processing and printing of the fresco in the caves before the replication, saving a lot of time and guaranteeing the accuracy of the simulations.

The exhibition is also a high watermark of international cooperation in the protection of the Grottoes. According to the director of the protection department of the Academy Su Bomin, the Getty Research Institute and the Academy have been in partnership on the research and repair of Cave 85 since the 1990s.