Interweaving Cultures along the Silk Road(s)
September 4 – December 13, 2020
The term “Silk Road,” which may conjure up an image of camels plodding across the desert on one contiguous road, was invented in the 19th century to describe the many different trade routes that flourished between Europe and Asia from the 2nd century BCE to the mid-15th century. This virtual exhibition highlights objects from the Spencer Museum of Art that reflect how artwork, design, trade goods, medicine, religion, and people traveled both over land and by sea and stimulated new cultural forms and ideas in Asia, Africa, and beyond that continue today. These exchanges took place across wide swaths of time and space that were both real and imagined. Selected works correspond to one or more of these four broadly conceived themes: Textiles, Buddhism, Orientalism, and Amalgamations.
Curated by: Sherry Fowler, Professor, History of Art Department, University of Kansas
As a companion to this exhibition, the symposium Visual and Material Culture of the Silk Road(s) will be held September 11–12, 2020, via Zoom. Register for the symposium here.
September 4 – December 13, 2020
The term “Silk Road,” which may conjure up an image of camels plodding across the desert on one contiguous road, was invented in the 19th century to describe the many different trade routes that flourished between Europe and Asia from the 2nd century BCE to the mid-15th century. This virtual exhibition highlights objects from the Spencer Museum of Art that reflect how artwork, design, trade goods, medicine, religion, and people traveled both over land and by sea and stimulated new cultural forms and ideas in Asia, Africa, and beyond that continue today. These exchanges took place across wide swaths of time and space that were both real and imagined. Selected works correspond to one or more of these four broadly conceived themes: Textiles, Buddhism, Orientalism, and Amalgamations.
Curated by: Sherry Fowler, Professor, History of Art Department, University of Kansas
As a companion to this exhibition, the symposium Visual and Material Culture of the Silk Road(s) will be held September 11–12, 2020, via Zoom. Register for the symposium here.
