ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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The itinerant treasures of the East
BEN CHACKO finds many parallels with present-day peaceful Chinese influence, as well as evidence of exploitation, in a historical exhibition
(L) Map of the world from al-Idrisi’s Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq (Pleasure of He who Longs to Cross the Horizons), 1533 manuscript of a 1154 original. This map was originally drawn by al-Idrisi (active 1154) for the Christian king of Sicily, Roger II (1130–54). It follows a tradition in Islamic mapmaking that orientates the world southwards and places the centre of the world in Mecca, the focus of Muslim pilgrimage. It shows Arabia as part of the wider world of Afro-Eurasia, illustrating its connection to the Mediterranean coastline extending to the Iberian Peninsula and eastward across the Indian Ocean, reaching China. (R) Ceramic figure of a camel made for burials in Tang dynasty China (618–907)
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
Silk Roads
British Museum, London
SILK ROADS is not quite what it seems.
The publicity evokes the classic image of the Silk Road, as a silhouetted camel caravan ascends a dune somewhere in central Asia.
And Silk Roads does showcase the splendour of China in its chosen period, the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). It bristles with treasures, from pottery camels to spectacular silk wall hangings depicting Buddhist devotional scenes from the monastic cave complex at Dunhuang; steles illustrate the Tang empire’s tolerance for the Christian and Zoroastrian faiths in its bustling, multicultural capital Chang’an; the hoard of a ship sunk off the Indonesian coast over 1,000 years ago demonstrates China’s early mastery of mass production, packed with 60,000 items for sale, much of it mass-produced ceramics from huge, state-owned factories.
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