A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang
British Library, 2024

The oasis of Dunhuang, at the edge of the Gobi Desert, was once a bustling town on the famous Silk Road connecting China and the Mediterranean.

This exhibition provided a rare glimpse into the ordinary lives of people long ago through the remarkable contents of the Library Cave, part of the Buddhist cave complex of Mogao, where a wealth of manuscripts, documents and artworks remained sealed for nearly 900 years. Detailing life in and around Dunhuang during the first millennium CE, the documents include personal letters and wills encompassing multiple languages, faiths and cultures including Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism and Christianity; and span topics as diverse as literature, astronomy, medicine, politics and art.

We wrapped the gallery in flowing red silken walls which contained bepsoke accessible showcases with layered gauzes to suggest the overlapping dunes and sky of Dunhuang.

In the centre the busy ‘street’ the archetypes of the people that lived or passed through the city - Merchant, Diplomat, Scribe, Printer, Artist, Buddhist Nun, Fortune teller etc. Each had a showcase and graphic paper banner with illustrated block abstract figures using intricate cave painting patterns, bringing colour and texture to the space.

The ‘Library Cave’ where the artefacts were discovered was concealed behind a paper installation of stacked scrolls, referencing how the scrolls were found in the cave, and forming a screen allowing partial views through.