The MARQ will exhibit for the first time in Spain nine figures of the Warriors of Xi'an and one of the famous horses of this terracotta army declared a World Heritage Site. This was confirmed this morning by the Deputy for Culture, César Augusto Asencio, who highlighted the exceptional nature of the loan, the result of intense negotiations with political and technical authorities in Shaansi and Xi'an.
The arrangements for part of this exceptional collection to make up MARQ's next international exhibition are coming to an end. After the productive visit to China by a delegation from Alicante headed by the deputy for Culture, the process is only awaiting experts from the Asian country to visit the museum to check the facilities and the security of the centre, with the aim that the state authorities in Beijing give the green light to the transfer.
Asencio explained that "the negotiations have been complex but very positive because we started with the option of five warriors and ended with the possible transfer of ten figures, nine warriors and a horse. This figure doubles the number of pieces previously loaned to Spain, specifically to Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. Furthermore, the truly extraordinary thing about this loan is the horse figure, because of how rare they are and because it would be exhibited for the first time in our country".
This ambitious international project will be complemented with a hundred more pieces to organise an exhibition that will provide an insight into the importance of the first unifying emperor of China. Last week, the MARQ cultural delegation visited the monumental mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor, which houses the imperial terracotta army. recognised in 1987 as World Heritage. So far in Xi'an, more than 8,000 soldiers slightly larger than life-size, dressed in uniforms in accordance with their rank, wearing armour, painted in bright colours - though little remains of these pigments - and each with a different face.
