Jingchu.com reported that "New Materials for Painting - 2025 Chinese Painting Masters Invitational Exhibition" recently opened in Wuhan.The 70 contemporary Chinese paintings on display are all painted on an innovative material called "Xuan Fiber Paper", and the inspiration for the development of this material actually came from the basalt fiber national flag displayed on the moon by Chang'e 6.
At the exhibition site, paintings with themes such as landscapes, flowers and birds showed unique sparkling waves as the angle of light changed. This is the visual effect brought about by the basalt fiber incorporated into the paper.
Wang Tiehan, deputy director of the Silk Painting Research Institute of Wuhan Textile University and a member of the R&D team, said that although traditional rice paper has the reputation of "paper having a thousand-year lifespan", it is still prone to problems such as mildew, insect infestation, yellowing and brittleness in high-temperature and high-humidity environments. Its soft texture also makes it prone to wrinkles and damage.
"Technological improvement of rice paper has always been an important topic in the field of calligraphy and painting." Wang Tiehan said. 2024,The basalt fiber national flag developed by the team of Academician Xu Weilin of Wuhan Textile University was successfully deployed on the back of the moon. The material is thin, soft, strong and durable, and has moisture-proof, flame-retardant, anti-wrinkle and other properties, which inspired the team's creative inspiration.
"Three seemingly unrelated materials, paper, cloth and stone, have achieved fusion and symbiosis on black fiber paper." Wang Tiehan said. Since then, Wuhan Textile University and other units have jointly carried out research to combine rice paper raw materials green sandalwood bark, Shatian rice straw pulp and basalt fiber, and integrate traditional handmade paper techniques with modern non-woven techniques. After repeated trials, this new type of paper was finally developed.
In March this year, the first batch of black fiber paper samples came out. Tested by multiple international standards,While retaining the lightness and good ink wetting properties of rice paper, this paper significantly overcomes the fragility and flammability shortcomings of traditional rice paper.
Li Naiwei, chairman of the Hubei Provincial Artists Association, commented: "Xuan fiber paper is safe, flexible and durable. It not only brings new expressive charm to traditional calligraphy and painting, but also provides new possibilities for ancient book restoration, art printing and other fields, and its application prospects are very broad."
