At the China Art Museum (205 Shangnan Road) 20 petroglyphs are currently on display in the first floor exhibition hall. The rocks feature carvings of animals including sheep, cattle, horses, tigers and leopards. They were created by people more than 8,000 years ago during the Stone Age.

The petroglyphs were transported to Shanghai from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in Northwest China a few weeks ago for the Ningxia Culture Week, part of the ongoing 15th China Shanghai International Arts Festival (SIAF). Ningxia is famous for its ancient rock art, which is mainly distributed around five cities, Shizuishan, Lingwu, Qingtongxia, Zhongwei and Helankou, where some of the best preserved examples can be found in the nearby Helan Mountains, once one of the most prolific sites in all of China for rock art. 

Rock arts from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region are part of the Ningxia Culture Week. Photos: Courtesy of the organizers

Titled Voice from Ancient Times, the exhibition runs from November 6 to 18. In addition to the 20 carved rocks, there are also 50 rubbings and 61 photographs of rock art from Ningxia. A further 26 photographs demonstrate examples of rock art from 11 other provinces in China and foreign countries including Spain, Brazil, India and Australia.

According to Qiao Hua, a senior research associate from the Ningxia Rock Art Research Institute, most of the rock art on display depict scenes of prehistoric life. There are depictions of herding, hunting, sacrifice, war, entertainment and copulation, along with images of totemic symbols. The carvings are invaluable for the study of the culture and art of northern China's ancient nomadic herdsmen.

She pointed out that the rock art rubbings were all made using traditional rubbing techniques, which give a complete and clear representation of the original rock art.

Qiao explained that the creation of rock art in Ningxia spanned from the Stone Age to the Bronze and Iron Ages, which is in general accord with rock art around the world.

Rock arts from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region are part of the Ningxia Culture Week. Photos: Courtesy of the organizers

Qiao told us that rock art from the Paleolithic Era is mainly found in caves, with representative examples including the Cave of Altamira in northern Spain, Lascaux Cave in southwestern France, and numerous caves in Scandinavia, South Africa and central India.

"However, China is the first country in the world to discover and record the art of rock carving," she added. "Shuijing Zhu (Notes on Book of Water), a classic geographic work from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534), contains the earliest written record of rock art."

Today, the local government in Ningxia has taken active measures to research and protect this precious cultural heritage. As well as issuing protection laws and decrees a decade ago, GPS satellite positioning technology was used to record the position of two-thirds of the rock art in Ningxia in 2011 and build an identity archive for each of them with existing research data.

"Early in the 1990s, we launched an academic journal in our institute, Yanhu Yanjiu, which is a unique journal about rock art in China's rock art research circle. And an international academic seminar on rock art has been regularly held in Ningxia since the 1990s," Qiao said.

In addition to the exhibition of rock art, as part of Ningxia Culture Week, there were also several performing arts shows from the region staged in Shanghai, mostly dance performances based on the traditional dances of the Hui ethnic minority, accompanied by the kouxian, a traditional Hui musical instrument. Roughly one-third of Ningxia's population of 6.3 million is Hui. The kouxian is a small jaw harp made from bamboo or metal.

Traditional Hui dances from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region are part of the Ningxia Culture Week. Photos: Courtesy of the organizers

Ningxia Culture Week is one of two culture weeks being held as part of SIAF. The festival's program typically includes one culture week that showcases another region in China and one that highlights the culture of a foreign country. This year, the Argentina Culture Week will be held until November 18.

Néstor Marconi will perform in Shanghai this week.

Tonight, Néstor Marconi, the renowned player of the bandoneón, the accordion-like instrument used to play tango music, will lead a tango octet concert at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center.

Juan Pablo Ledo will perform in Shanghai this week.

On Sunday night, at the Shanghai City Theatre, the work of celebrated Argentine tango composer Astor Piazzolla will be brought to life with a blend of classical ballet and tango. The performance is directed by and stars Juan Pablo Ledo, the lead dancer of Teatro ColÓn, the main opera house in Buenos Aires, who will perform with eight other finalists of the 2013 World Tango Dance Championship.