Colorful Glasses - Art Exhibition of Ancient Glassware Along the Silk Road

April 20, Colorful Glasses - Art Exhibition of Ancient Glassware Along the Silk Road, co-sponsored by the Hainan Provincial Museum and Japan’s Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Art Museum under the support of AEC was opened at the Hainan Provincial Museum. Zhou Yu, the deputy director of AEC, Ning Hongwen, the deputy director of the Hainan Provincial Tourism Department, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.

Zhou Yu said in his address that this exhibition, with time and the Silk Road as the main line, demonstrates the historical process of the spread and development of glassware along the Silk Road. It also demonstrates the spread, evolution, exchange and integration of science and technology, material technology, multilateral trade, ideology and culture, art and aesthetics among ancient civilizations, providing powerful empirical evidence for the exchange and mutual understanding of Eastern and Western civilizations. It serves as a window for the general public to understand more intuitively and deeply the cultural significance and historical significance of the Silk Road to the world. The exhibition will serve as a spiritual feast of the beauty of glass art and cultural exchange, and inject new impetus and vitality to expand cultural exchanges between China and Japan and the promotion of the Silk Road culture.

Ning Hongwen pointed out that this exhibition highlights the highest achievements of ancient glass craftsmanship along the Silk Road, showing the historical process of the gradual development of glassware from art pieces to functional and diverse living utensils under the influence of technological innovation and diversified cultures. It highlights the wisdom and creativity of various ethnic groups along the Silk Road in ancient times, as well as the history of cultural exchanges and mutual understanding among civilizations along the Silk Road.

The exhibition selects 325 pieces/sets of glassware from the Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Art Museum. With a variety of objects and construction materials such as collected jewelry and food utensils, etc from places of ancient Egypt, Tigris & Euphrates, Mediterranean, West Asia and Central Asia, including,the exhibits covers a history spanning 2,800 years. Through the three sections of “Origin and Development” “Prosperity and Leaped Development” and “Exchange and Influence”, the exhibition reflects the exchange and mutual understanding of civilizations and friendship between the East and the West. This exhibition is also the first exhibition of introduced cultural objects in the Hainan Provincial Museum.

The exhibition will be on display until July 20, 2023