Art of the Silk Road and Japan

Global trade routes have for millennia not only served as a way for civilizations to reap financial rewards from foreign commerce but have also been essential conduits for domestic innovations, that have led to great cultural and scientific advances for the societies along their routes.

The greatest of the ancient trade routes is the Silk Road that connected the East and West. Japan is widely regarded as its Eastern-most terminus, and the country’s deep and varied engagement with it spans many centuries.

Patricia Graham, PhD; professor, curator and researcher, will explore the various ways contact with the Silk Road enriched the artistic landscape of Japan at various points in time by showing the types of arts reaching Japan via its path and introducing Japanese collectors, researchers, and explorers of Silk Road materials as well as Japanese artists inspired by it from the sixth century to the present.