Join the KQ for a private curator talk about the British Library’s current exhibition A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang.
Sign up to the private view here.
With the world’s earliest complete printed book with a date to the earliest known manuscript atlas of the night sky, we will travel back in time to more than 1,000 years ago to discover the stories of diverse Dunhuang and its people.
Like the Knowledge Quarter, Dunhuang hosted a melting pot of multiple languages, faiths and cultures and facilitated the free exchange of ideas, technologies and art.
This KQ CONNECT event features an exclusive talk led by Kitty Liu, the exhibition’s project curator. The talk will begin at 08:45. There will be time before and after to enjoy the exhibit and mingle with fellow KQ community members.
More about the exhibition
The oasis of Dunhuang, at the edge of the Gobi Desert, was once a bustling town on the famous Silk Road connecting China and the Mediterranean. Discover the personal stories of those who lived, travelled through, worked, and worshipped here more than 1,000 years ago. Explore an astonishing time capsule that opens windows onto the intimate worlds of artists and scribes, merchants and fortune-tellers, diplomats, Buddhists and nuns.
Named “Blazing Beacon” after the watchtowers along its walls, Dunhuang was once a vital meeting point at the gateway to China. The routes that converged here ran through Constantinople in the West and Japan in the East. But there was more to this verdant oasis than trade. For over 1,000 years, Dunhuang was also an important pilgrimage site, a cultural melting pot where ideas, technologies and art flowed freely.
This exhibition provides a rare glimpse into the ordinary lives of people long ago through the remarkable contents of the Library Cave, part of the Buddhist cave complex of Mogao, where a wealth of manuscripts, documents and artworks remained sealed for nearly 900 years. Detailing life in and around Dunhuang during the first millennium CE, the documents include personal letters and wills encompassing multiple languages, faiths and cultures including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Christianity; and span topics as diverse as literature, astronomy, medicine, politics and art.
Read more about the exhibition here.
About the curator (and our guide)
Kitty Liu joined the Library as project curator for the exhibition A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang. With a lifelong passion for museums and cultural heritage, Kitty specializes in the preservation and study of ancient Chinese architecture. She began her career as a heritage consultant before spending five years curating exhibitions and managing collections in museum settings, honing her skills in presenting cultural treasures to the public.
What is KQ CONNECT?
KQ CONNECT is our networking event series that brings KQ colleagues together across our diverse range of partner institutions. Join us for a series of private views of exhibitions and summer walking tours of our vibrant local area. Immerse yourself in a world of creativity, connect with like-minded individuals, and discover hidden gems across the Knowledge Quarter.
Can’t attend but want to receive invitations to future private views? Sign up to our newsletter here.