Three Major Silk Road Exhibitions on Display at China’s Palace Museum

The Palace Museum has launched three major Silk Road exhibitions with the arrival of 2024—Historic Encounters: Interaction between China and West Asia in History, The Glory of Ancient Persia, and AlUla: Wonder of Arabia. These events have been jointly organized in a collaboration between the Palace Museum, the National Museum of Iran, the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, the Saudi Arabian Royal Commission for AlUla, and other institutions.

Historic Encounters: Interaction between China and West Asia in History brings together representative collections from 8 museums, archaeological and cultural institutions from China and abroad. Featuring 266 sets of objects, the exhibition illustrates the history of mutual learning and exchanges between China and West Asia that spans across the past millennium. It aims to guide visitors through the historical processes that have gradually condensed into the Silk Road Spirit.

The Glory of Ancient Persia features 216 artifacts from the collections of various Iranian museums. They encompass a number of categories, including architecture, sculpture, ceramics, glassware, metalwork, calligraphy and painting. The exhibition presents the magnificent tangible cultural heritage left behind by the ancient Persian civilization as a result of mutual influences and exchanges with other cultures.

AlUla: Wonder of Arabia presents the ancient oasis city of AlUla to Chinese audiences for the first time, showcasing its spectacular natural scenery, precious archaeological artifacts and rich cultural heritage. Making their debut at the Palace Museum, the exhibition includes 50 newly excavated artifacts that have never before been displayed to the public.  

Through exquisite artifacts, the three major exhibitions weave together some of the most significant civilizations along the Silk Road. They illustrate the rich and enduring histories of different cultures, and the long-standing origins of exchanges between human civilizations, highlighting a magnificent chapter in the building of a global community of shared future that is characterized by mutual learning and common development.