IDP’s 20th Anniversary

To celebrate IDP’s 20th anniversary we will be organising a series of events and activities over the next year. Details will be added and updated below and on our blog. From November 1 2013 the IDP blog will also feature ‘A Few of Our Favourite Things’, a weekly post showcasing IDP collection items selected by twenty of IDP’s partners, supporters and users. Please contact idpevents@bl.uk for more information.

Download a PDF of the programme of events

View the 20th Anniversary issue of IDP News.

1 NOVEMBER 2013	LECTURE: ‘MAPPING THE SILK ROAD’
18.30–20.30	In recent years a team of experts have conducted research into the Silk Road’s sites and routes as part of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia project. Tim Williams, archaeologist at University College London (UCL) and leader of the UCL Ancient Merv Project, has been working on this project for several years. In this lecture he will discuss the considerable challenges of mapping the the Silk Roads and their sites. Download this presentation PDF 85.5MB.
FREE ENTRY
Conference Centre The British Library 96 Euston Road London, NW1 2DB
MAP

1 NOVEMBER 2013

LECTURE: ‘MAPPING THE SILK ROAD’

18.30–20.30

In recent years a team of experts have conducted research into the Silk Road’s sites and routes as part of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia project. Tim Williams, archaeologist at University College London (UCL) and leader of the UCL Ancient Merv Project, has been working on this project for several years. In this lecture he will discuss the considerable challenges of mapping the the Silk Roads and their sites.

Download this presentation PDF 85.5MB.

FREE ENTRY

Conference Centre
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DB

MAP

6 JANUARY – 24 FEBRUARY 2014	EXHIBITION: ‘AUREL STEIN AND THE SILK ROAD’
MONDAY–SATURDAY	Between 1900 and 1916 the archaeologist and scholar, Aurel Stein, led three expeditions to the Taklamakan and Lop Deserts of western China in search of the sand-buried settlements of the Silk Road. He excavated scores of sites and took over 5000 photographs. These photographs of ancient Silk Road settlements, stupas and forts in the Taklamakan Desert are shown alongside modern images and video taken on recent British Library expeditions to record the changes of the past century. View all the images from this exhibition in our online gallery.
FREE ENTRY
Royal Geographical Society 1 Kensington Gore London, SW7 2AR
MAP

6 JANUARY – 24 FEBRUARY 2014

EXHIBITION: ‘AUREL STEIN AND THE SILK ROAD’

MONDAY–SATURDAY

Between 1900 and 1916 the archaeologist and scholar, Aurel Stein, led three expeditions to the Taklamakan and Lop Deserts of western China in search of the sand-buried settlements of the Silk Road. He excavated scores of sites and took over 5000 photographs. These photographs of ancient Silk Road settlements, stupas and forts in the Taklamakan Desert are shown alongside modern images and video taken on recent British Library expeditions to record the changes of the past century.

View all the images from this exhibition in our online gallery.

FREE ENTRY

Royal Geographical Society
1 Kensington Gore
London, SW7 2AR

MAP

12 MARCH 2014	OPEN DAY: CONSERVATION AND IDP STUDIO
10.00–17.00	Archaeologist and scholar, Aurel Stein excavated scores of sites and discovered numerous artefacts including over 40,000 manuscripts and early printed documents in over twenty languages and scripts. The amount and variety of this material poses serious challenges for both conservation and digitisation that curators and conservators at the British Library have been addressing for two decades through international collaboration and under the auspices of IDP. This open day offers a chance to meet the conservation and digitisation teams and to learn about their work on the Stein Silk Road manuscripts.
FREE ENTRY (BOOKING REQUIRED)
Foyle Centre and IDP Studio The British Library 96 Euston Road London, NW1 2DB
MAP

12 MARCH 2014

OPEN DAY: CONSERVATION AND IDP STUDIO

10.00–17.00

Archaeologist and scholar, Aurel Stein excavated scores of sites and discovered numerous artefacts including over 40,000 manuscripts and early printed documents in over twenty languages and scripts. The amount and variety of this material poses serious challenges for both conservation and digitisation that curators and conservators at the British Library have been addressing for two decades through international collaboration and under the auspices of IDP. This open day offers a chance to meet the conservation and digitisation teams and to learn about their work on the Stein Silk Road manuscripts.

FREE ENTRY
(BOOKING REQUIRED)

Foyle Centre and IDP Studio
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DB

MAP

MARCH 2014 – AUGUST 2015 FREE ENTRY	EXHIBITION: ‘THE DIAMOND SUTRA AND EARLY PRINTING’
Monday 09.30 - 20.00 Tuesday 09.30 - 20.00 Wednesday 09.30 - 20.00 Thursday 09.30 - 20.00 Friday 09.30 - 18.00 Saturday 09.30 - 17.00 Sunday 11.00 - 17.00 Public holidays 11.00 - 17.00	The whole text of the earliest dated printed book — the Diamond Sutra — will be on display at the British Library for the first time over a period of eighteen months from March 8, 2014. Following extensive conservation, the Diamond Sutra scroll currently remains in separate panels giving the unique opportunity to show all the panels in turn. Each panel will be on display for two months in the Treasures Gallery at the British Library, open to all and with free admission. The first panel on display (March-April 2014) will be the illustrated frontispiece showing the Buddha with his elderly disciple, Subhūti. The text of the sutra concerns the philosophical discussion between the Buddha and Subhūti. Each panel will then be shown in turn, remaining on display for two months. The frontispiece will be shown again for the final display in July and August 2015. The Diamond Sutra was printed in AD 868 as an act of faith and piety. In this period Buddhists took advantage of printing to replicate the words and image of the buddha, but private printers at the time also used the new technology to produce texts for profit. Almanacs were immensely popular, so much so that the Chinese emperor, whose imperial astronomers produced and distributed an imperial almanac, tried to suppress their printing and sale throughout the 9th and 10th centuries. Displayed alongside the Diamond Sutra will be a copy of a Chinese almanac printed just a decade later, in AD 877. It is a very different style of printing with the document split into registers showing immense detail. They include the animals of the Chinese zodiac, a diary of lucky and unlucky days, fengshui diagrams, magic charms and much more. The display also includes two pages from a printed copy of the Heart Sutra in Sanskrit with a phonetic transcription in Chinese, an early example of Korean printing using moveable type and the earliest examples of Japanese printing, the Million Charms of Empress Shotoku.
Sir John Ritblat Gallery The British Library 96 Euston Road London, NW1 2DB
MAP
March – April 2014 Frontispiece May – June 2014 1st panel printed text July – August 2014 2nd panel printed text September – October 2014 3rd panel printed text November – December 2014 4th panel printed text January – February 2015 5th panel printed text March – April 2015 6th panel printed text May – June 2015 Colophon July – August 2015 Frontispiece

MARCH 2014 – AUGUST 2015
FREE ENTRY

EXHIBITION: ‘THE DIAMOND SUTRA AND EARLY PRINTING’

Monday 09.30 - 20.00
Tuesday 09.30 - 20.00
Wednesday 09.30 - 20.00
Thursday 09.30 - 20.00
Friday 09.30 - 18.00
Saturday 09.30 - 17.00
Sunday 11.00 - 17.00
Public holidays 11.00 - 17.00

The whole text of the earliest dated printed book — the Diamond Sutra — will be on display at the British Library for the first time over a period of eighteen months from March 8, 2014.

Following extensive conservation, the Diamond Sutra scroll currently remains in separate panels giving the unique opportunity to show all the panels in turn. Each panel will be on display for two months in the Treasures Gallery at the British Library, open to all and with free admission.

The first panel on display (March-April 2014) will be the illustrated frontispiece showing the Buddha with his elderly disciple, Subhūti. The text of the sutra concerns the philosophical discussion between the Buddha and Subhūti.

Each panel will then be shown in turn, remaining on display for two months. The frontispiece will be shown again for the final display in July and August 2015.

The Diamond Sutra was printed in AD 868 as an act of faith and piety. In this period Buddhists took advantage of printing to replicate the words and image of the buddha, but private printers at the time also used the new technology to produce texts for profit. Almanacs were immensely popular, so much so that the Chinese emperor, whose imperial astronomers produced and distributed an imperial almanac, tried to suppress their printing and sale throughout the 9th and 10th centuries.

Displayed alongside the Diamond Sutra will be a copy of a Chinese almanac printed just a decade later, in AD 877. It is a very different style of printing with the document split into registers showing immense detail. They include the animals of the Chinese zodiac, a diary of lucky and unlucky days, fengshui diagrams, magic charms and much more.

The display also includes two pages from a printed copy of the Heart Sutra in Sanskrit with a phonetic transcription in Chinese, an early example of Korean printing using moveable type and the earliest examples of Japanese printing, the Million Charms of Empress Shotoku.

Sir John Ritblat Gallery
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DB

MAP

March – April 2014
Frontispiece

May – June 2014
1st panel printed text

July – August 2014
2nd panel printed text

September – October 2014
3rd panel printed text

November – December 2014
4th panel printed text

January – February 2015
5th panel printed text

March – April 2015
6th panel printed text

May – June 2015
Colophon

July – August 2015
Frontispiece

11 APRIL 2014	LECTURES AND RECEPTION: ‘SILK ON THE SILK ROAD’
14.00 – 20.00	Over a century of archaeology on the eastern Silk Road has resulted in thousands of textile finds, preserved by the dry desert air. In their variety — of material, dyes, designs and weaves — they demonstrate the richness of cultural and technical exchanges among the peoples of the Silk Road. This afternoon of lectures by scholars, curators and conservators is intended for a general audience, and will introduce the Silk Road and the textiles collections held in London and worldwide. The lecture will be followed by a reception with drinks. 14:00 Welcome Cordelia Rogerson, Head of Conservation, The British Library 14:15 Silk for Books and Buddhism: the British Library and British Museum Collections Susan Whitfield, Director, IDP, The British Library 15:00 Silk in Shoes and Clothing: V&A and British Museum Collections Helen Persson, Curator Chinese Textiles and Dress, V&A Questions 15:45–16:15 Tea & Coffee 16:15 Silk as Money Helen Wang, Curator, East Asian Money, The British Museum 17:00 Silks from the Silk Road Zhao Feng, Director, The National Silk Museum, China Questions 18:00–20:00 Reception
£12 (£8 CONCESSIONS)
Conference Centre The British Library 96 Euston Road London, NW1 2DB BOOK ONLINE
MAP

11 APRIL 2014

LECTURES AND RECEPTION: ‘SILK ON THE SILK ROAD’

14.00 – 20.00

Over a century of archaeology on the eastern Silk Road has resulted in thousands of textile finds, preserved by the dry desert air. In their variety — of material, dyes, designs and weaves — they demonstrate the richness of cultural and technical exchanges among the peoples of the Silk Road. This afternoon of lectures by scholars, curators and conservators is intended for a general audience, and will introduce the Silk Road and the textiles collections held in London and worldwide. The lecture will be followed by a reception with drinks.

14:00 Welcome
Cordelia Rogerson, Head of Conservation, The British Library

14:15 Silk for Books and Buddhism: the British Library and British Museum Collections
Susan Whitfield, Director, IDP, The British Library

15:00 Silk in Shoes and Clothing: V&A and British Museum Collections
Helen Persson, Curator Chinese Textiles and Dress, V&A

Questions

15:45–16:15 Tea & Coffee

16:15 Silk as Money
Helen Wang, Curator, East Asian Money, The British Museum

17:00 Silks from the Silk Road
Zhao Feng, Director, The National Silk Museum, China

Questions

18:00–20:00 Reception

£12 (£8 CONCESSIONS)

Conference Centre
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DB
BOOK ONLINE

MAP