China's largest silk heritage research museum marks 30th anniversary

The nation's largest silk history research organization, China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou, announced an official logo and new creative products and hosted a series of seminars to mark its 30th anniversary last month.

The animals and plants found in ancient textiles are the main features of the museum's posters for the anniversary.

In ancient times, an abundance of animals and plants were introduced to China from the West along the Silk Road. Envoys brought their local animals and plants as gifts to the royal court, while merchants traveled for thousands of miles to sell them in China. The posters represent the long-lasting cultural exchanges between China and other countries.

Ti Gong

To celebrate the anniversary, the NSM·Fashion Museum exhibition co-hosted by the museum and Hangzhou Tower, one of the most popular shopping malls in the city, is displaying 80 sets of collected costumes in the mall through May 20.

In recent years, the museum has broadened its focus from ancient textile research to modern fashion, a successful shift evidenced by the increasing number of visitors every year.

"By the end of 2021, we had built a collection of 69,465 items, mainly covering silk, textiles and designed costumes from ancient and modern times, as well as a database with complete chronological genealogy, archaeological information and a full range of categories," said Zhao Feng, curator of the museum.

The museum was approved to be built in 1986 and officially opened to the public in 1992. However, it has undergone hardship and changes during the past 30 years.

"The museum immediately fell into the dilemma of financial difficulties in the 1990s. Wages could not be paid, and many employees left," Zhao recalled. "However, we overcame the difficulties by joint efforts and unremitting struggle. Starting from 2010, we have multiplied the domestic and foreign collections, completed the renovation and expansion project, finally broken the cocoon and entered a stage of rapid development."

Since 2013, after President Xi Jinping proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, China and countries along the ancient routes have been involved in cooperative projects.

The China National Silk Museum hosts "Silk Road Week" events every year to display the cultural heritages along the road. A number of online and offline exhibitions and activities have been held to better protect and popularize the Silk Road.

Ti Gong

Except for its own collections, antiques on loan from other museums from the countries along the Silk Road also tell visitors how the ancient route linked civilizations in trade, religion, technology, culture and art.

"Over the past 30 years, the exhibitions in the museum have become more refined. In addition to the basic displays in the four sections of history, intangible cultural heritages, antique protection and fashion, we have also launched a series of major exhibitions themed on traditional costumes, Chinese and international fashion," said Zhao. "The museum holds about 20 exhibitions on average per year. Our exhibitions won the National Exhibition Excellence Award in 2006, 2017 and 2021."

Today, the museum has already developed into the largest organization repairing ancient textiles in China and has provided such services for more than 50 museums across the country. During past years, a number of top-notch treasures have been restored by experts from the museum.

In March 2021, the Dunhuang Academy signed an agreement with the China National Silk Museum to participate in the restoration and conduct research on unearthed silk antiques.

The Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was a vital hub in the ancient Silk Road. It features a number of buried silk paintings and textiles in grottoes throughout history. These fragile textiles will be restored by professionals from the museum.

"In the future, the museum will continue to explore the heritages along the Silk Road and build them into a cultural icon of Zhejiang Province," said Zhao. "We are also going to comb through silk antiques nationwide and build an online digital museum as a platform for international cultural exchanges."