Join us on a journey through central Asia – its history, people, art, architecture then and now - 'live streamed' on zoom (not recorded).

DAY 1 – 15 October 2024 with lecturer Dr. Susan Whitfield

Susan Whitfield. London, M 07803-296139

The Silk Road – Art, history and exploration

1. Introduction to its History and Cultures. A general context-setting lecture, illustrated with maps and artefacts, giving an outline of what we mean by the Silk Road and introducing some of the major events and cultures along it in the first millennium AD.

2. Exploration and Discovery. This tells the story of the early 20th imperial archaeologists of the Silk Road, concentrating on the British/Hungarian, Sir Aurel Stein, and how he uncovered forgotten civilisations of the Silk Road from the desert sands of the Taklamakan. His finds are now mainly in the British Museum and British Library.

3. Art. This lecture introduces several wonderful pieces of art exemplifying the transmissions and interactions of peoples, faiths, technologies, materials and designs along the Silk Road. The objects include a gilt silver flask, a glass bowl, and a patterned sil

Fee: £25