The exhibition focuses on the crucial economic and cultural role played by silk in China as it was traded along the Silk Road, providing an overview of the development of sericulture (silk cultivation) from the Han dynasty through the 20th century. In addition, a third of the exhibition focuses on the European reaction to Chinese silk, a luxurious and desirable item, which Italy and then France were each able to produce on its own, including approximately 50-60 examples from Europe and other countries. With approximately 150 samples of silk clothing, accessories, and furnishings from China, India, Italy and France, this exhibition provides a rare overview of centuries of Chinese silk making and its crucial cultural role. Just as important, the exhibition reveals how European silk makers adapted the Chinese methods of production and artistic styles in ways that then influenced Chinese fabrication itself in the 20th century. The exhibition ends by showing silk’s continuing appeal today, with contemporary high-fashion silk creations from China and Europe.

Venue address: Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, 18/F, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong