The Silk Road is a cultural and historic heritage shared by numerous nations. The treasures from the Silk Road bear witness to the progress of the Humanity and a link between different cultures. Several museums located on the Silk Road have curated exhibitions to tell the story along the ancient Silk Road through objects and lively presentations.
Based on French author Jules Verne’s 1870 classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the exhibition brings to life the deep-sea adventures of Captain Nemo, his fantastical Nautilus submarine and the mythical world he inhabited. At the centre of this fantasy world is the giant Nautilus where kids can climb aboard and discover the inner workings of a deep-sea submersible… they can take up the controls at the helm, peer through the periscopes, crank the propeller, test out the bunks and explore Captain Nemo’s Cabinet of Curiosities full of wonderful marine specimens. There’s even a bubbly pipe organ to play and a galley full of strange foods to discover! Kids can then slip on a dive suit and venture through the world below the waves including the octupus’ garden with its giant clam shell, a giant squid to slide down and then wander through the maze of sea weed in the kelp forest. They can also hunt for treasure in the wreck of the Spanish galleon or explore the lost world of Atlantis.
Genghis Khan’s name is legend. with an army of no more than 100,000, Genghis Khan and his forces used innovative techniques to dominate much of the known world, establishing a continuous empire three times larger than any other in history. The storyline follows the arc of Genghis Khan’s dramatic life—from illiterate, tormented child to the millennium’s greatest ruler, coupled with the rise of an unparalleled empire of freedom and innovation which he created. The largest collection ever assembled of the treasures of Genghis Khan, from collections worldwide. Themes and Progression of the exhibition are “The Two Faces of Genghis Khan: Warrior and Statesman”, “Genghis Khan’s Roots: Nomadic Life in Central Asia”, “Rise of Genghis and the Mongols”, “Military Conquest and Siege”, “Kharakorum: Treasures from the Capital City”, “The Four Khanates: An Empire Divided”, “The Mysterious Death and Burial of Genghis Khan”, “Kublai Khan, Marco Polo and Yuan Dynasty, China”, “Excavating the Empire”, “The Fall of the Empire”, “Modern Mongolia”. Through Genghis Khan’s life we see the formulation of his concepts and achievements in creating a nation, a language, a meritocracy, and a web of communication and artistic and religious freedom and safety.
An exhibition born Paper Silk and paper are associated with China for millennia. The Belgian artist Isabelle de Borchgrave wanted to bring together in a new exhibition: paper tells the Silk Road. Not through a book, which has already been done many times, but by recreating the world of Paper Route, his privileged speech material. Step by step, she takes us to follow him on the road, but a personal way, revisited by his imagination. The visitor stops and not in reconstructions of places but in re-constructions -in paper- that evokes the road for the artist. As Isabelle de Borchgrave, the visitor to the exhibition begins its journey in a library. He will meet several in his visit, introductory sas in the work of the artist, drawn from fantasy books, stories of travelers. This is where the paper met silk. These libraries will also be the object receptacles, as out of the books, which tell the saga of the Route through different themes. They also explain the place chosen by the artist, the visitor will discover at the end of each of these libraries. The heart of the exhibition is formed by the paper spaces, works of Isabelle de Borchgrave. It is this road revisited by the artist who is the attraction and originality. Libraries are there only to bring a breath, a rhythm to the course while giving through collectibles, little history. The red wire is -forcément- a silk thread, or rather a piece of silk which the visitor will follow the path from the studio of Chinese weaver to the shores of Europe. It reappears in each set, emblem of progress over time and space. This modular set design makes the exhibition different depending on where it could anchor. Road is long, famous or anonymous places more jostling in the imagination of the visitor as in that of the artist. Different exposures, adapted them eligible to receive the same quality and the same interest. The road here is drawn only among other possible way.
The exhibition is based on the results of the most advanced studies and research in history, archaeology and science history. It illustrates the extraordinary naturalistic, scientific and technical knowledge that had been achieved in Pompeii and in the Roman world at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius. Archaeological findings, multimedia devices and working interactive models of the mechanical devices introduced in Pompeii show how the physical laws that guarantee the functioning of these machines are still valid today.
The past decade of both economic crises in Europe and North America as well as extraordinary growth of wealth in Asian countries has led to new questions and concepts for future museum buildings. The exhibition ‘New Museums: Intentions, Expectations, Challenges’ investigates these questions by analyzing recent and future designs on all continents. Through contemporary project studies it aims to show, with a particular focus on sustainability, how museums position themselves as places of exchange and communication. The role of the museum as a location factor for economic development and gentrification of towns and regions remains controversial. Nevertheless, these are still essential criteria in the planning of new museums. The driving question behind many new projects is the relation between current and future requirements that have to be met by the museum. This will therefore also be the central and combining factor of this exhibition. Further strands of investigation followed by this project include: The development of museums towards multifunctional social spaces providing a platform for a vast variety of activities and the rising number of private art museums in which individual collectors showcase their collection and operate outside the conventional rules of long established public institutions. Furthermore, the conversion of existing structures, such as silos, airplane hangars or train depots, and extension of museums becomes more important since urban space is limited and the ecological footprint of buildings has to decrease. The exhibition illustrates how museums change under communal, commercial and cultural influences and the important role the new museum as a stimulating factor can play for an entire region. Large scale models provided by the architecture firms are accompanied by photographs and digital renderings as well as multimedia presentations. The exhibition presents a wide array of information such as interviews with architects, museum directors and private collectors. It provides a comprehensive insight into the thought processes and the collective work that feed into the development of new museums.
The Silk Road was a significant transportation route which started from China and passed across Asia, Africa, and Europe. It was not only the world’s longest trade route, but also a route that was central to the East-West cultural exchanges—it was considered as the main transportation artery of human history. Its formation and development have revealed the long history of Eastern and Western civilizations, depicting the vivid historical pictures of the Sino-West cultural exchanges. Xinjiang (also called Western Regions in ancient times) was the hub of the Silk Road, and a place where the world’s four cultural systems integrated. The various civilizations in the world met here and interacted with each other, which finally gave birth to the inclusive and brilliant Silk Road civilization. Archaeological findings indicate that there were human activities in Xinjiang about fifty thousand years ago during the Paleolithic Age. Since the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, a broad range of ethnic groups in Xinjiang had already profound relationships with the East and West civilizations due to the Eurasian Steppe route. With the opening of the Silk Road in Han Dynasty and the establishment of Protectorate of the Western Regions, Xinjiang finally became a part of China and its history entered into a new era. Visitors will see exhibits of the cultural relics in ancient Western Regions: simple but beautiful pottery, stunning costumes, archaic and abstruse Buddhist texts, romantic flying aspires, numerous bamboo and wooden slips, and delicate ancient money. Walking around these cultural relics, visitors will appreciate the glorious civilization of its heyday and have a feeling of going back to the ancient Western Regions.
Shanxi Province is one of the origins of Chinese civilization with a long history. Jin is the abbreviated name of Shanxi, which originates from a significant dukedom of Zhou Dynasty—Jin State. Rising from a small and remote state, Jin State became one of the most powerful chiefs during the Spring and Autumn Period; it was separated into three small states at last, ending the six-hundred-year glorious history. Jin State’s ups and downs witnessed the reform time full of wars and fights for the throne.
The Summer Palace was an important political stage of the late Qing Dynasty, and was also one of the important residences of Empress Dowager Cixi in her later life. From 1891 to 1908, as the owner of the Summer Palace and the supreme ruler of the late Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi spent most of her last 18 years in the beautiful scenery of the Summer Palace. Cixilivedandentertainedhere, took sightseeing tours, celebrated festivals and managed state affairs, leaving tens of thousands of pieces of cultural relics. This exhibition selects hundreds of pieces of cultural relics related to Cixi so as to completely reflect her disposition and the characteristics of palace life. It not only mirrors the real life of Cixi, but also gives visitors a glimpse of the palace culture in the late Qing Dynasty, alongside its historical and cultural background.
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