Creative Exchanges: Sights and Sounds of the Silk Road

Program Overview

The Silk Road Project museum residencies bring great works of art together with traditions of oral literature and music to increase awareness of both the diverse peoples and the interactions of rich cultural traditions in the lands along the historic Silk Road. The Residencies focus on an object or small group of objects in a museumís collection. At the Peabody Essex Museum, this object was Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese house.

Because Yin Yu Tang was located in the remote countryside, men of the family left home for long periods to conduct business in the cities. There they encountered people, traditions, and ideas from other areas of China, as well as from elsewhere in Asia and even the West. To expand our experience of Yin Yu Tang, therefore, the program also evoked the culture of an urban Chinese street where such foreign presences might be felt. A moveable feast of performers, artists, storytellers, dancers, and musicians travelled through the museum's spaces bringing to life the art, music, and history of those foreign cultures.

For example, an 18th ‚century scroll, "Journey to the South", which depicts an emperorís journey to view his southern domains, was one of the works of art that inspired a multi-media performance. Musicians and storytellers brought the scroll to life while visual details of the painting were projected on a screen above them.

In the Indian Contemporary Gallery, Kojiro Umezaki (shakuhachi) and Wu Man (pipa) sat back to back and improvised their musical responses to a contemporary Indian sculpture titled "For Hen" by Chinthala Jagdish. The sculpture depicts back-to-back figures who are searching for an old woman's pet hen.

A jazz trio including Japanese shakuhachi flute improvised in the Japanese Galleries where, at other times, another trio of musicians from China, Japan, and America created a musical game of Rock-Paper-Scissors (popularly known as ìJan, Ken, Pon in Japan) inspired by a contemporary artwork by Corinne Okada of that theme. Storytelling was an important part of these programs. Ben Haggarty led Storywalks through the galleries and related works of art from the galleries to myths, legends, and tales from various cultures.

Rysbek Jumabaev, a Kyrgyz oral epic reciter, and Nurlanbek Nyshanov, a Kyrgyz musician, told the story of Manas. Dubbed The Iliad of the Central Asia steppe, Manas is an epic tradition that developed from the heart of the Silk Road in what is known today as the Kyrgyz Republic. Manas remains the preeminent cultural symbol of Kyrgyz nationhood and integrates the history, politics, social life, literature, and art of the region.

Special programs during the residency included daily Art Talks in Morse Auditorium and weekday visits from area schools.

Photos From the Residency

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Calligraphic couplets are pasted on the side of homes during Chinese New Year, welcoming spring and good fortune. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Calligraphy stall in the market during Chinese New year. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Bing Hguc Leung displays his dough sculptures. Credit: ©2004 Jean Davidson
Museum visitors listen to musicians and storytellers in the traditional Chinese teahouse. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Entrance to late Qing Dynasty merchant home, Yin Yu Tang. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Montreal based jazz trio Beat in Fractions performing in museum atrium. Richard Le Gendre, bass; Alain Mercure, drums/percussion; Kojiro Umezaki, shakuhachi. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Jim Forrest and Wu Man playing in one of many jam sessions during the residency. Credit: ©2004 Jean Davidson
Christopher Lydon moderates an art talk with Yo-Yo Ma and museum architecture Moshe Safdie. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Performance of Journey to the South. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Sheng musician Hu Jianbing during a jam session. Credit: ©2004 Jean Davidson
Visitors enjoy a family concert in the museum atrium. Credit: ©2004 Jean Davidson
Chiao-Bin Huang invites children to participate in a Chinese traditional ribbon dance. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Ben Haggarty tells a traditional tale during a family concert. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Kyrgyz epic storyteller Rysbek Jumabaev performing during a family concert. Credit: ©2003 Bethany Haggarty
Bharatanatyam dancer Sonal Bhatt performing at a family concert. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Hindustani vocalist Falguni Shah performing at a family concert. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
John Bertles plays an instrument that he made from recycled materials. Credit: ©2003 Bethany Haggarty
Ben Haggarty Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Students show off instruments they built using recycled materials. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Yo-Yo Ma and Ben Haggarty performing in the Maritime Gallery. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Kojiro Umezaki takes a break to rehearse during the residency. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Hu Jianbing (sheng) and Richard Le Gendre (bass) performing for a group of students in the Japanese Gallery. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty
Storyteller Ben Haggarty. Credit: ©2004 Bethany Haggarty