Woodblock printed artworks by Ten Bamboo Studio Art Museum Photos: Courtesy of Hangzhou Ten Bamboo Studio Art Museum

An exhibition on woodblock prints opened Monday at the Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts in London.  

The Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation Association of China organized the exhibition with the Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts and the Hangzhou Ten Bamboo Studio Art Museum.

The exhibition covers four sections: the development of ancient Chinese printing technology, its development in the West, the technology's inheritance and innovation and on-site demonstrations. 

Combining painting, engraving and printing, woodblock printing is listed as an intangible cultural heritage of China. The more than 200 artworks on display include replicas of ancient books, paintings and original woodblock panels. Many of them are being exhibited in the UK for the first time. 

"Some of the printed works will be gifted to the British Library… For most woodblock panels, they probably could only be used to produce about 100 printed works… So each print can be considered precious to some extent," said Wang Honglei, deputy secretary-general of the Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation Association of China, at a press event held in Beijing on Thursday.

After August 19, the exhibition will be held at Asia House, a London-based multi-functional center of expertise on Asia, from September 21 to 30. On the sidelines of the second exhibition, a seminar will be hosted at the British Library during which experts and scholars from both China and the UK will discuss the history and development of woodblock printing.