"In May, the pomegranate flowers shine on the eyes, and the seeds are just beginning to grow." China and Armenia, located at the junction of Eurasia, are both ancient civilizations. Although they are separated by thousands of miles, the friendship between the two sides has a long history. On May 17, on the eve of the International Museum Day, with pomegranate as the media, the "Cultural Treasure Exhibition of Armenia in the 18th and 20th Century" held by the Xi'an Museum and the Armenian Yerevan History Museum was officially opened in Xi'an. Hundreds of exquisite cultural relics together told the history of exchanges between the two countries that lasted for thousands of years.
The exhibition selected 94 pieces/group of cultural relics in the collection of Armenian Yerevan History Museum and 23 pieces/group of cultural relics in the collection of Xi'an Museum, including 117 pieces/group of exquisite cultural relics in total, such as pottery, gold and silver ware, porcelain, handicrafts, etc. Through five units of "Beautiful Caucasian Pearl", "Armenian Traditional Clothing", "Armenian Silver Handicrafts", "Armenian Carpet Art" and "Silk Road Connecting the World", the audience will be led to another ancient civilization on the ancient Silk Road.
Armenia has been an important center for making silver artifacts since the early Bronze Age. The Armenian tradition of using metallic silver to make clothing accessories, jewelry, household utensils and religious objects has been handed down for thousands of years. Its silver wares are famous for their ingenious design and superb craftsmanship.
The silver belt is an indispensable accessory of Armenian traditional clothing and a symbol of Armenian national identity. The silver belt is often decorated with exquisite patterns, such as crosses, animals, flowers, etc. The most common ones are "tree of life" and "pistil pattern", which symbolize the cycle of growth, vitality and life.
"The unique Armenian filigree inlay and black silver inlay technology can be seen at the buckle and body of this silver belt. The buckle is a hollow frog shape with flowers on it, indicating the auspicious meaning of life prosperity; and every belt can see a building, which is famous at that time, but has disappeared for various reasons, so it is more precious." Li Qian, a member and curator of the Exhibition Department of Xi'an Museum, pointed to a silver belt and introduced it.
In order to enrich the exhibition content, the exhibition also set audio-visual equipment such as the introduction of Armenian style and features and the interpretation video of handicrafts to increase the exhibition dimension. At the same time, the exhibition also launched an interactive dress changing link of Armenian clothing, so that the audience can have a deeper understanding of Armenian clothing and improve their participation in the exhibition.
"Armenia is one of the centers of oriental handmade carpet weaving, and the history of carpet production can be traced back thousands of years." When introducing the carpet, Li Qian specifically pointed out the Armenian dragon pattern in the middle of the carpet, which is completely different from the Chinese dragon pattern. In order to let the audience have a better comparison, the collection of the Xi'an Museum, the Qing Dynasty dragon silk, was also exhibited under this carpet for the first time.
It is worth mentioning that a total of 7 cultural relics were exhibited in the Xi'an Museum for the first time, including dragon silk, blue glass bowl, gilded lion, alum red flower pattern plate, pastel flower butterfly pattern bowl, green space pastel flower pattern plate and colorful fruit pattern plate.
"Chang'an will join hands again and pay more attention to the gold." 2024 is the tenth anniversary of the success of the World Heritage application of "Silk Road: Chang'an - the road network of Tianshan Mountain Corridor". This exhibition aims to link the ancient civilization of the Silk Road, present the dazzling history and culture, draw a picture of diverse and interactive cultural exchanges, and further promote mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples through cultural relics and the Silk Road.
The exhibition will last until August 17.
