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Founded in 1994, the International Dunhuang Programme (IDP) is a pioneering international collaboration that brings together online collections from the Eastern Silk Roads and promotes the understanding of the history and culture of the region. 

Our news

04th March 2024

IDP New Website Launch 

We are pleased to announce the launch of the newly redeveloped International Dunhuang Programme (IDP) website, hosted by the British Library. The IDP was established …

11th July 2023

Shaping the Stein collection’s Dunhuang corpus (2): the items from Cave 17’s ‘miscellaneous’ bundles

In a previous blog post, we looked at the instrumental role played by Wang Yuanlu during the selection of the items from the Cave 17. …

22nd June 2023

Shaping the Stein collection’s Dunhuang corpus (1) Wang Yuanlu: the first ‘curator’

The British Library, British Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and National Museum of India hold a significant amount of manuscripts and other pieces acquired by …

12th May 2023

The Lotus Sutra Project

Conserving and Digitising 800 Manuscripts in the British Library

A woman crouching by cabinets of scrolls holding a scroll
05th May 2023

An introduction to sketches in the Stein Collection

Digital and physical preservation underpin much of the work carried out by the IDP

13th April 2022

The Lotus Sutra Manuscripts Digitisation Project: the collaborative work between the Heritage Made Digital team and the International Dunhuang Project team

Digitisation has become one of the key tasks for the curatorial roles within the British Library. This is supported by two main pillars: the accessibility …

15th October 2021

Call for 2022 Chevening Fellowship: Digitised manuscripts from Dunhuang and the application of HTR tools to ancient Chinese texts

Come join us for a great opportunity to work at the British Library and find ways of applying cutting-edge technological solutions to ancient manuscripts! In …

23rd August 2021

How to digitise scrolls

A step by step guide The International Dunhuang Project (IDP) is an international collaborative project based at the British Library and with centres around the world. The …

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