'Ice Buddha' sculpture leads Tibetan art show in Taipei   

西藏“冰佛”現身臺北：用拉薩河水凍鑄成佛

(ECNS) - More than 80 Buddhist-themed artworks by 30 leading Tibetan artists opened to the public in Taipei on Sunday.

The works include murals, stone sculptures, clay figurines, ink paintings, Thangka and photography. Thangka is an archetypal form of Tibetan scroll painting.

The artists include Dampa Rabten, a renowned Thangka master and the only inheritor of the Miantang School; Luobu Sida, a leading Thangka painter of the Miansa School; and Han Shuli, chairman of the Tibet Literary Federation.

A 1.8-meter Buddha sculpture, made from a frozen mixture of glacier water from the Himalayas and water from Taiwan, is a highlight of the exhibition.

The ice sculpture was first created in 2006 by renowned Tibetan artist Garde, who built it with frozen water from the Lhasa River, only to let it melt in the spirit of "samsara."

Taiwan's famous ice sculptor Wu Ting-Kou made the sculpture and will let it melt at the site, with the resulting water to be given to visitors.