Indepth Arts News:
"The Glory of the Silk Road: Art from Ancient China"
2003-02-08 until 2003-05-11
Dayton Art Institute
Dayton, OH,
USA
Imagine a journey through some of the world's highest
mountains surrounded by hostile deserts and treacherous terrain. Caravans
heading towards China carry gold, ivory, glass, and precious metals and
stones. Other caravans leave China, filled with such treasures as silks,
ceramics, jade and objects made of bronze. The world's oldest and most
historically important trade route, the Silk Road spanned 7,000 miles from
China, linking Central Asia, India, and Arabia with Rome. Connecting the
East to the West, the Silk Road became significant not only for the trade
of goods, but for the exchange of ideas, religious beliefs and art.
This historically significant
exhibition will showcase materials that have been buried deep within the
sands, hidden in intricate caves on the sides of mountains, or recovered
from ancient tombs along the Silk Road. The phrase "Silk Road" was first
coined by Baron Ferdinand von Richtofen in the mid to late 19th century.
The term is somewhat misleading as the Silk Road consisted of many roads
and paths and much more than silk was traded.
176 rare treasures will be on display, including objects made of gold,
silver, gilt bronze, jade, clay, silk and paper, with forms ranging from
sculptures, ceramics and paintings to textiles and manuscripts. These
works include some of the most powerful and groundbreaking archaeological
finds in northwestern China. This is the first time that most of these
objects will be shown in the United States.
These rare and ancient works, most dating from the 6th-9th centuries, are
drawn from collections in museums and archaeological research institutes in
Beijing, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, and Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region, China. Discovered along the ancient Silk Road, these treasures
provide a comprehensive overview of 500 years of history of the Silk Road,
which stretches from Kashgar in northwestern China through the Taklamakan
Desert to Turfan, Dunhuang, and Xi'an.
THE GLORY OF THE SILK ROAD: Art from Ancient China includes Chinese works
of art as well as works of art brought into China along the Silk Road from
ancient India, Greece and the Roman Empire. The exhibition explores the
themes of cross-cultural exchanges and influences among China, Central Asia
and the West, with an emphasis on China. The presentation focuses on
several aspects of the art of the Silk Road: the spread of Buddhism; the
early presence of Christianity and other religions; silk and other textiles
from China and Central Asia; rare religious and non-religious manuscripts
from Turfan; changing styles of gold and silver work; as well as
cross-cultural influence in dance and music.
According to Alex Nyerges, Director and CEO of The Dayton Art Institute,
"This exhibition is the result of more than four years of intense research
and scholarship. Working with more than twenty museums in three provinces
and in Beijing, we have assembled a spectacular show that is sure to
fascinate our visitors. We expect visitors literally from around the world
to come to Dayton to see it."
The collecting of art and artifacts from the Silk Road in China has a
century-long history. During the first quarter of the 20th century, a great
number of Silk Road treasures were removed from Xinjiang and Dunhuang
during the expeditions led by Sven Hedin, Aurel Stein, Albert von Le Coq,
Gruwedel Albert, Paul Pelliot, Langdon Warner, and Otani Kozui. In the
late 1920s, Chinese archaeologist Huang Wenbi conducted a number of
expeditions in Xinjiang. Unfortunately, significant portions of the Huang
collection and the Le Coq collection were destroyed by fire during World
War II. The works that survived have thus become even more important and
valuable sources for the study of the Silk Road and Central Asian art.
THE GLORY OF THE SILK ROAD is organized by The Dayton Art Institute and the
National Museum of Chinese History and is curated by Li Jian, Curator of
Asian Art at The Dayton Art Institute. The exhibition is presented by NCR
Corporation with additional support from Mrs. Virginia W. Kettering, The
Dayton Art Institute Docent Organization, Dayton Marriott Hotel and by an
indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, written by
an international team of curators and scholars, including Valerie Hansen
from Yale University, Angela Sheng from Canada, Katherine R. Tsiang from
the University of Chicago and Wang Binghua from the Xinjiang Institute of
Archaeology. An international symposium on the exhibition is scheduled in
March 2003.
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