The British Museum and British Library have both opened exhibitions focusing on the trade routes and connections between Asia, Africa and Europe in the Middle Ages.
Silk Roads at the British Museum showcases more than 300 objects mostly from the Early Middle Ages – including generous loans by 29 lenders from national and international institutions. From Indian garnets found in Suffolk to Iranian glass unearthed in Japan, they reveal the astonishing reach of these networks.
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“Our aim in this exhibition is to tell a richer, more complex story of the Silk Roads beyond trade between East and West, highlighting the interconnectedness of Asia, Africa and Europe during the period from AD 500 to 1000,” explains Luk Yu-Ping, Basil Gray Curator of Chinese Paintings, Prints and Central Asian Collections. “We are very excited about the incredible, first-time loans that will be featured alongside key British Museum objects. This has been a truly collaborative effort, very much in the spirit of the Silk Roads.”
Many of the items will be on display in the UK for the very first time, including the oldest group of chess pieces ever found and a monumental six-metre-long wall painting from the ‘Hall of the Ambassadors’ in Afrasiab (Samarkand), Uzbekistan. The painting evokes the cosmopolitanism of the Sogdians from Central Asia who were great traders during this period.
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Other items on loan come via new partnerships with museums in both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, demonstrating the importance of Central Asia in this continent-spanning tale. Silk Roads will also be the first exhibition in the Museum’s history to have a multi-curatorial approach, featuring objects from across the institution.
Visitors will also meet figures whose stories are entwined with the Silk Roads, including Willibald, an ingenious balsam smuggler from England, and a legendary Chinese princess who shared the secrets of silk farming with her new kingdom. Covering deserts, mountains, rivers and seas, the Silk Roads tell a story of connection between cultures and continents, centuries before the development of the globalised world we know today.
Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum, adds that “The British Museum is world-renowned for its gripping, award-winning exhibitions which I’ve always admired. Silk Roads will be the first to open since I became Director, and I was particularly impressed by the way that it challenges existing perspectives while also involving deep collaboration – with departments across the Museum working together to bring it to its ambitious, compelling fruition.”
Across town, the British Library has also opened A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang. Featuring items from the so-called ‘Library Cave’ in the Buddhist caves complex of Mogao, this exhibition explores the stories of the people who inhabited or passed through the town of Dunhuang in northwest China, a vital resting point along the trading routes known as the Silk Roads.
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Sealed in the early 11th century and only rediscovered in 1900, the contents of the ‘Library Cave’ span the 4th to the 11th centuries. From the Diamond Sutra, the world’s earliest dated, printed book, to the Dunhuang star chart, the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky, the documents are an astonishing time capsule detailing life in and around the medieval metropolis of Dunhuang.
Opening today, our latest exhibition, A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang, unveils a vibrant time capsule of the community that lived, travelled, worked, and worshipped there over 1,000 years ago.
Drawing on the extensive collection of manuscripts, prints and paintings at the British Library, this exhibition will showcase the legacy of Dunhuang, and how it endures today.
Both exhibitions will run until February 23, 2025.
The British Museum and British Library have both opened exhibitions focusing on the trade routes and connections between Asia, Africa and Europe in the Middle Ages.
Silk Roads at the British Museum showcases more than 300 objects mostly from the Early Middle Ages – including generous loans by 29 lenders from national and international institutions. From Indian garnets found in Suffolk to Iranian glass unearthed in Japan, they reveal the astonishing reach of these networks.
“Our aim in this exhibition is to tell a richer, more complex story of the Silk Roads beyond trade between East and West, highlighting the interconnectedness of Asia, Africa and Europe during the period from AD 500 to 1000,” explains Luk Yu-Ping, Basil Gray Curator of Chinese Paintings, Prints and Central Asian Collections. “We are very excited about the incredible, first-time loans that will be featured alongside key British Museum objects. This has been a truly collaborative effort, very much in the spirit of the Silk Roads.”
Many of the items will be on display in the UK for the very first time, including the oldest group of chess pieces ever found and a monumental six-metre-long wall painting from the ‘Hall of the Ambassadors’ in Afrasiab (Samarkand), Uzbekistan. The painting evokes the cosmopolitanism of the Sogdians from Central Asia who were great traders during this period.
Other items on loan come via new partnerships with museums in both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, demonstrating the importance of Central Asia in this continent-spanning tale. Silk Roads will also be the first exhibition in the Museum’s history to have a multi-curatorial approach, featuring objects from across the institution.
Visitors will also meet figures whose stories are entwined with the Silk Roads, including Willibald, an ingenious balsam smuggler from England, and a legendary Chinese princess who shared the secrets of silk farming with her new kingdom. Covering deserts, mountains, rivers and seas, the Silk Roads tell a story of connection between cultures and continents, centuries before the development of the globalised world we know today.
Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum, adds that “The British Museum is world-renowned for its gripping, award-winning exhibitions which I’ve always admired. Silk Roads will be the first to open since I became Director, and I was particularly impressed by the way that it challenges existing perspectives while also involving deep collaboration – with departments across the Museum working together to bring it to its ambitious, compelling fruition.”
Across town, the British Library has also opened A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang. Featuring items from the so-called ‘Library Cave’ in the Buddhist caves complex of Mogao, this exhibition explores the stories of the people who inhabited or passed through the town of Dunhuang in northwest China, a vital resting point along the trading routes known as the Silk Roads.
Sealed in the early 11th century and only rediscovered in 1900, the contents of the ‘Library Cave’ span the 4th to the 11th centuries. From the Diamond Sutra, the world’s earliest dated, printed book, to the Dunhuang star chart, the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky, the documents are an astonishing time capsule detailing life in and around the medieval metropolis of Dunhuang.
Drawing on the extensive collection of manuscripts, prints and paintings at the British Library, this exhibition will showcase the legacy of Dunhuang, and how it endures today.
Both exhibitions will run until February 23, 2025.
Top Image: Glazed ceramic figurines made for burials in Tang dynasty China (618–907) include lively representaEons of camels bearing goods that were imported and exported from the realm. This example from Luoyang depicts a dual-humped Bactrian camel laden with coiled silk, folded fabric, a West or Central Asian ewer and possibly a piece of rib meat, next to bags covered with monster masks. ©The Trustees of the British Museum
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