On July 29, the Nara City Museum of Art in Japan launched the special exhibition Living on the Silk Road: Carpets, Tea and Architecture. The event is jointly hosted by the Nara City Government and the Nara City Museum of Art, with support from Archi Depot Corp, Nara National Institute of Higher Education and Research, and other institutions.For centuries, Nara has continuously absorbed cultural elements from countries along the Silk Road to shape its own distinctive culture. The exhibition offers a glimpse into the lifestyles and cultures of the Silk Road through displays of carpets, tea utensils and architectural models. The Silk Road connected regions from Byzantine Persia to Nara’s sister city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan, as well as Central Asia, China and Japan. Visitors can trace the legacy of East-West exchanges spanning the 6th to 8th centuries, centered on the Nara period.
Focusing on UNESCO World Heritage, the exhibition features Persian carpets and replicas of ancient Chinese tea wares. Complementary programs include displays of the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasty tea sets reproduced in China’s Fujian province, along with live demonstrations of ancient tea-making techniques as practiced before the tea ceremony was introduced to Japan. Weekend workshops titled “Writing in Silk Road Languages” invite participants to create personalized artworks using the Persian alphabet, while another hands-on activity, “Wooden Slip Name Card Workshop”, offers the chance to inscribe name cards on wooden slips using a traditional calligraphy brush.
The exhibition is open until August 31.
Sources: Nara City Government, Nara City Museum of Art