By Cliff Bellamy

cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744

CHAPEL HILL -- In ancient world history courses, students learn about the Silk Road, the name for a series of land and sea trade corridors that extended from Japan to China, the Middle East and Europe. Goods like silk and spices were traded along the route, as were customs, ideas and religions. Historically significant innovations like the printing press, the compass and gunpowder also made their way along these routes.

A new exhibit at the Ackland Art Museum at UNC seeks to make those connections more concrete, while at the same time inviting possible new discoveries by students and scholars. "Along the Silk Road: Art and Cultural Exchange," will be open through June 5 of 2011. The exhibit has more than 60 objects drawn from the Ackland's collection of Asian Art, ranging from the first through the 16th centuries, all created along the Silk Road. Among the artifacts that either have never been displayed at the museum or have not been displayed in some time are a 16th century Russian painting, Roman glass and Greek coins.

However, this exhibit is by no means a mere display of artifacts. Each piece in the exhibit will be arranged in a manner that invites visitors to see how culture and ideas traveled along the Silk Road. Carolyn Allmendinger, director of Academic Programs at the Ackland and curator of the exhibit, showed a reporter some examples during a preview last week. A set of Chinese sutra covers from the 15th century contains three jewel symbols, which also appear in works by European artists during the period.

A pair of bowls illustrates how a style of decorating pottery migrated. A Chinese bowl from the Tang Dynasty has a distinctive green, brown and cream glaze. Next to it is a later example of a pottery bowl from Persia, in which the maker is trying to duplicate that same glaze pattern. That pairing is one way in which the Ackland's extensive collection allows this exhibit to show that kind of cross-cultural connection, Allmendinger said.

A balustrade (from Persia) contains a carving of lions attacking a bull, imagery that derives from a fable of Indian origins. That story and its imagery eventually travel along the Silk Road to Europe.

Yet another example of geographical ties are the sculpture "Offering of the Four Bowls to Buddha" and "Hand with Waterpot," both objects from the Gandhara region (now Pakistan). The Buddha sculpture also contains a garland pattern that shows strong Roman influence. "These are quintessential Silk Road objects," Allmendinger said. "They're really visual and stylistic proof of contact between the Romans and ancient Gandhara."

The Ackland consulted with a number of UNC faculty members and students to arrange the exhibit, and in many cases those discussions have allowed the museum to understand "an extra level of meaning" in the artifacts, Allmendinger said. That process will continue during the exhibit's year-and-a-half run. As scholars and students study the objects, their findings will be placed on wall labels during the exhibit. Allmendinger said he expects "some serendipitous discoveries" from their studies.

She cited several examples of how scholars in different disciplines might approach the exhibit. An undergraduate student is interested in the political geography of Asia. A professor of women's studies is interested in how silk came from China to the West, and a China scholar is interested in the early print trade. Religious studies professors might also look at the transmission of Buddhism and Islam. "The more I talk to faculty," Allmendinger said, "the more I discover how specific objects in the exhibition tie in with faculty works."

Visitors can also ponder a number of issues, such as the ways in which people and information traveled across distance and time through the trade routes.

Accompanying the exhibit will be monthly public programs, musical concerts, book discussions and food events. A table will contain contemporary maps and period maps from the Wilson Library's Rare Book Collection to illustrate the paths that made up the Silk Road, along with some Web resources of maps.

The exhibit's lengthy run allows more time to make any new scholarly discoveries available to the public. "There's just no limit" to how visitors can engage and follow up on the exhibit, Allmendinger said.