Silk Roads at the British Museum and British Library: Objects in Focus

From September 2024 to February 2025, the Silk Roads get a spotlight in London, with two concurrent exhibitions on this topic at the British Museum and the British Library. The British Museum exhibition Silk Roads takes audiences on a journey across Asia, Africa and Europe, exploring the movement of people, objects and ideas in the period 500 to 1000 CE. The British Library exhibition A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang transports visitors to the vibrant town of Dunhuang—a hub of trade, culture, and religion in present-day Northwest China—highlighting the experiences of those who lived, passed through, or left their mark there. In this event, curators of the two exhibitions will introduce the thinking behind their respective shows, and share insights into a few of the highlight objects on display.

Images (clockwise from top left):

Octagonal cup with musicians and a dancer, c. 830s. Found in the Belitung shipwreck. Probably made in Yangzhou, China. Tang Shipwreck Collection, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore.

String of cloves, c. 400–600. Originating from Maluku Islands, present-day Indonesia, found at Qaw el-Kebir, Egypt. British Museum.

Bilingual vertical scroll linked to the Khotanese envoy Ca Kima-Sana.

Gold and garnet sword-scabbard button, early 600s. Found in the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial, Suffolk, UK. British Museum.