The Silk Road has served as a trade route bringing together civilisations since ancient times, and today it is also a designated world heritage site. The Hong Kong Museum of History will run a large-scale exhibition entitled "Miles upon Miles: World Heritage along the Silk Road" from tomorrow (November 29) to feature rare relics from the Mainland, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, enabling visitors to see the richness of world heritage and understand the myths and splendour of the Silk Road.

     The exhibition features more than 210 exhibits, which consist of jade ware, textiles, sancai figurines, gold and silver ware, bronze ware and large-scale murals. Over half of the exhibits from Shaanxi, Henan, Gansu and Xinjiang on the Mainland are classified as grade-one national treasures, including the "Gold mythical beast", "Gilt bronze silkworm" and "Mural of camel and Central Asian cameleer".

     More than 50 exhibits of precious artefacts from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are also presented to illustrate the unique cultural and religious customs in the regions. The exhibits include a replica of "Clothing and weaponry of the Golden Man", "Altar with figures of horsemen and animals" and "Buddhist stone carving".

     To tie in with the theme, life-size replicas of the home of Kazakh and Kyrgyz nomads, namely the yurt, and camels, will be displayed at the museum lobby. Visitors can also try on Kyrgyz costumes to learn more about the Central Asian culture and take photos.

     In addition to being a historical transport network for trade and commercial activities in the Eurasian continent, the Silk Road has performed a key role in fostering cultural, religious and technological exchanges. This exhibition will highlight the routes network of the Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor of the Silk Road spanning China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This network was inscribed on the World Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2014 in view of the unique cultural value of its archaeological sites and religious buildings.

     An opening ceremony for the exhibition was held today (November 28). The officiating guests included the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam; the Minister of Culture, Mr Luo Shugang; the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Mr Wang Zhimin; the Director General of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Mr Liu Yuzhu; Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR Mr Yang Jian; the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah; the Acting Consul-General of Kazakhstan in Hong Kong, Mr Iskander Baitassov; the Director General of the Department of Education, Science and External Affairs of the Ministry of Culture and Sport of Kazakhstan, Mr Almat Suyunov; the Head of the Department of Art Development and Professional Education of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan, Ms Damira Alyshbaeva; the Chairman of the Museum Advisory Committee, Mr Stanley Wong; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Michelle Li; and the Acting Museum Director of the Hong Kong Museum of History, Mr Terence Cheung.

     The exhibition is one of the events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR and will run until March 5, 2018. It is jointly presented by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and jointly organised by the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the Gansu Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Bureau of Cultural Heritage, the Luoyang Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, with co-ordination by the Hong Kong Museum of History and the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Center.

     For details of the exhibition, please visit hk.history.museum/en_US/web/mh/exhibition/current.html, or call 2724 9042 for enquiries.

     The Hong Kong Museum of History is located at 100 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Ends/Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Issued at HKT 18:38

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