Speaker:

Dr. Lilla Russell-Smith, Curator for Central Asian Art, Asian Art Museum, National Art Museums in Berlin, Germany

Overview:

Wall paintings and other objects from the “Turfan Collection” (traditionally named after the German “Turfan Expeditions,” 1902–1914) were brought to Berlin in the beginning of the twentieth century and have been exhibited in different parts of the city since the 1920s. Important large wall paintings were tragically destroyed in the Second World War. In the last ten years, intense work with architects to prepare a completely new presentation in the new permanent exhibition of the Asian Art Museum in the center of Berlin (Humboldt Forum) was carried out, the exhibition opened in two stages, and has been fully open since September 2022. This was accompanied with an ongoing discussion on the changing role of museums, and on the increasing importance of provenance research. Art historical, archival and scientific research and conservation work, research trips to the sites in China, intense collaboration with researchers from Germany, Russia, China, and Japan and the preparation of publications directly shaped the exhibition concept. The main sites presented are Kizil (Kucha), Shorchuk (Yanqi/Karashar) and the Turfan Region. Some objects and manuscripts could only be reconstructed with the help of focused archival work. 

The lecture will discuss the presentation in the two large exhibition halls, where now the majority of the wall paintings, clay sculptures and wooden objects are exhibited accessible to everyone, and currently free of charge. Many of these objects were previously in storage and only possible to view by appointment. The small museum team is also working on various digitization projects to make the collection available everywhere. In one large exhibition hall the regional arts are presented; whilst in the other large exhibition hall, a study collection of object groups previously in storage, in changing topic windows materiality, technology, and the aridity of the climate can be explained. Dr. Russell-Smith’s long-running research on the transmission of astral iconography shaped the concept for the exhibition, and two very different case studies for this will also be shown.

This lecture is organized by Harvard FAS CAMLab.

Image: Reconstruction of Kizil Cave 123 (“Cave of the Ring-bearing Doves”). Image courtesy of Dr. Satomi Hiyama, Kyoto University.