Silk Road exhibit travels 4,600 miles in New York

(American Museum of Natural History)

The same museum that inspired Ben Stiller's Night at the Museum movie, the American Museum of Natural History on Central Park West in New York City, has mounted a new exhibition, "Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World," through August 15, 2010.

Following the trade routes from East to West, it covers six centuries (600-1200 AD), from Xi'an, China to Sarakand and Baghdad, as well as the sea route through the Persian Gulf.

The show includes a live display of spinning silkworms, cocoons and mulberry leaves, illustrating the making of prized silk exchanged for paper, hand-blown glass and spices. A multimedia educational experience, traditional Chinese instruments can be heard as well as the sounds of Mediterranean markets filled with furs, feathers, gems, and jasmine oil.

Life-size camels "walk" through the exhibit which incorporates more than 90 artifacts, including a 7th-century Buddha, a 17-foot-long (5.2 meter) wooden Chinese loom, a working Chinese astrolabe, and a 13th-century Koran.

Musicians from cellist-composer Yo-Yo Ma's renowned Silk Road Project will perform on Sundays.

http://www.amnh.org/

RC