On September 10, the State Museum of Oriental Art in Russia opened the exhibition The Silk Road: Contemporary Turkish Arts and Crafts, featuring more than 80 works created by the art studios of the İzmir Institute of Traditional Arts in Türkiye. The exhibition continues a cultural dialogue that began along the Silk Road more than 2,000 years ago.
The exhibits include miniature paintings depicting Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv, and Khiva, along with cities in China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Türkiye; Seljuk-style ceramics, carpets, and saddlebags; as well as embroidery, woodcarving, jewelry, dolls dressed in traditional costumes from different regions of Anatolia, felt tents, and miniature camel caravans. All the works are handmade using traditional Turkish techniques such as miniature painting, marbling, and gilding.
Ilya Zaitsev, Deputy Director of the State Museum of Oriental Art and curator of the exhibition, said the exhibition continues the museum’s exploration of Turkish culture following its recent project on Karagöz shadow theater. It introduces Moscow audiences to the İzmir Institute’s efforts to revive traditional crafts and reinterpret centuries-old techniques in a contemporary context. The exhibition is supported by the Ministry of National Education of Türkiye, the İzmir Institute of Traditional Arts, and the Embassy of Türkiye in Russia, among other organizations, and runs through September 27.
Source: Russian State Museum of Oriental Art