Mural Paintings of the Silk Road

Along the great Silk Road, numerous objects of cultural heritage survive as witnesses to the mingling of indigenous cultures with ‘foreign’ cultures. One type of surviving witness is mural painting and the papers in this volume are witnesses themselves of a colloquium on the subject of Mural paintings of the Silk Road attended by art historians, historians and archaeologists, scientists and conservators from East and West, held in Tokyo in 2006. A newfound recognition of the vastness of the Silk Road, along with a genuine rediscovery of the ancient cultural exchanges that took place there is reflected in this collection of papers which examines the range of information (art styles, techniques and materials) encapsulated within mural paintings, allowing the reader a glimpse of the dynamism inherent in the cultural exchanges between East and West. Today, parts of the Silk Road, rich in the magnificence of the ancient arts they possess, are often located in countries facing major challenges. Countless important archaeological sites are in danger of demolition or severe damage by human encroachment or turmoil. This symposium also addressed such issues – more from an Asian point of view, reaching beyond European perspectives. This volume is published in association with the Japan Center for International Co-operation in Conservation, National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, and contains the proceedings of the 29th Annual International Symposium on the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, January 2006.