Silk Roads, this new exhibition at the British Museum, opening this week, will challenge and expand the modern popular concept of the « Silk Road » as a simple history of trade between East and West. In fact, rather than a single trade route, the Silk Roads were made up of overlapping networks linking communities across Asia, Africa and Europe, from Japan to Britain, Scandinavia to Madagascar.
The Silk Roads were in use for millennia, and the forthcoming exhibition will focus on a defining period in their history, from about AD 500-1000. These centuries saw significant leaps in connectivity and the rise of universal religions that linked communities across continents.
The exhibition is structured into five geographical zones that take visitors on their own Silk Roads journey, the exhibition showcases more than 300 objects – 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.
Many of the items will be on display in the UK for the very first time, including the oldest group of the chess pieces ever found and a monumental six-metre-long wall painting from the « Hall of Ambassadors » in Afrasiab (Samarkand) Uzbekistan. The painting evokes the cosmopolitanism of the Sogdians from Central Asia who were great traders during this period.
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.
Silk Rods will run from 26 September 2024 to 23 February 2025 in The Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery at the British Museum.
For more information, please visit the Silk Roads exhibition webpage: britishmuseum.org/silkroads
Open Saturday to Thursday 10.00–17.00, Friday 10.00–20.30. Last entry 15 minutes before closing. Early bird tickets from £17, under-16s free when accompanied by a paying adult, 2-for-1 tickets for students on Fridays, and concessions and group rates available.
Silk Roads would not have been possible without the generosity of The Huo Family Foundation, as well as the exhibition’s additional supporters: James Bartos, The Ruddock Foundation for the Arts and Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation.
The Huo Family Foundation:
The Huo Family Foundation is a grant-giving foundation based in London. Its mission is to support education, communities and the pursuit of knowledge. Through its donations, the Foundation hopes to improve the prospects of individuals, and to support the work of organisations seeking to ensure a safe and successful future for all society