Website
Silk Road Virtual Museum
A virtual museum of the art and culture of the regions that lay on the trade routes between Europe and Asia, popularly known as the ‘Silk Road’.
- Author
- Richard T. Griffiths
- Date
- 15 October 2024
- Links
- Silk Road Virtual Museum Website
[From the website of the Silk Road Virtual Museum:]
Silk Road
The ‘silk road’ is a short-hand way of referring to the land and sea trade routes linking Asia and Europe, and the locations in between. Their history stretches back over two millennia, across a timespan punctuated by bloody territorial struggles. At times of peace, however, trade flourished. Those were the hay-days of the silk road.
The last such period spanned the years 1200-1450. This is where the first museum sites will be concentrated. Their focus is on high quality artistic achievement, shared by the elites in the respective societies. The first museum is in Nanjing, the capital of the new Ming dynasty in China. Other sites will follow soon.
Mission
The mission of the Silk Road Virtual Museum is:
- to create a virtual museum of the art and culture of the regions that lay on the trade routes between Europe and Asia, popularly known as the ‘Silk Road’
- to understand that East and West (and everywhere in between) have been interconnected for millennia
- to encourage an understanding and appreciation of the different cultures and societies that spanned the Eurasian continent during the period of the ancient silk road,
- to encourage people to explore their heritage at their own pace and in their own way,
- to encourage visits to physical museums and libraries,
- to stimulate a thirst of further knowledge and investigation,
- to appreciate the flow of cultures across borders and to see their impacts,
- and, not to fear ‘difference’ but to embrace it.
Project team
The Project is directed by VirtualMuseum360. The museum website is designed and support by V21ArtSpace. The project is supported by the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden. The research is being supported by students from the BA Degree in International Studies, Leiden University. The project development is being encouraged by an international network of scholars.