Peter Gordon Art

Silk Roads come to London: exhibitions at the British Museum and British Library

Sketch of horse and camel, Dunhuang, 966 CE Sketch of horse and camel, Dunhuang, 966 CE

It perhaps takes the resources and curatorial talent of an institution the likes of the British Museum to remove the banality of an overused term like “The Silk Roads” (now obligatorily in the plural) and remind us what the fuss was all about.

Appearing simultaneously with the stunning exhibition at the British Museum is a smaller and only somewhat more subdued exhibition at the British Library entitled “A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang”, highlights of which include, the “Diamond Sutra”—which at 868 CE is the world’s earliest complete printed book with a date; a 9th-century Zoroastrian manuscript fragment dating from the 9th century about the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathusra; and manuscripts in Old Turkic and old Uyghur. The two exhibitions—the former broad, the latter a deeper dive into manuscripts and religious life— complement each other. Neither should be missed if one is even remotely in the area.

Sancai' (three-color) ceramic tomb figure of a camel, 728 CE
Sancai’ (three-color) ceramic tomb figure of a camel, 728 CE

The objects in the British Museum exhibition, focusing on the period 500-1000 CE, are stunning and, in many cases, iconic and well-known, although some on load from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are likely to have seen by only the most intrepid of museum-goers.

The actual objects aside, the British Museum portrays the Silk Roads as “made up of overlapping networks linking communities across Asia, Africa and Europe, from East Asia to Britain, and from Scandinavia to Madagascar.” Silk itself hardly appears: this exhibition (and, indeed, the one at the British Library as well) is more about people, ideas, iconography and religion as it is about trade and commerce per se.

Sutton Hoo: gold shoulder-clasp inlaid with garnet cloisonné and glass
Sutton Hoo: gold shoulder-clasp inlaid with garnet cloisonné and glass

The exhibition does not however highlight that its geographically expansive view of the Silk Roads is not, in fact, the conventional view, one which foregrounds China as the primary focus and sine qua non. This is thought-provoking, but the inclusion of Europe and, in particular Britain, may be stretching the point: “Indian garnets found in Suffolk” or a Buddha figurine (probably from Swat) found in Sweden are certainly fascinating, but are not really evidence of the highly-integrated relationships found, say, between Tang Dynasty China and Sogdiana to its west.

The objects in both exhibitions are well-displayed, accompanied by extensive explanations. Go, if you can.

 

A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang at the British Library and Silk Roads at the British Museum both run through 23 February 2025.
Peter Gordon is editor of the Asian Review of Books.