Written by: Mahnoor Fatima
Posted on: July 13, 2021 | 
| 中文
Poster for the Ancient Asian Civilizations Exhibition
A special exhibition opened at the Hunan Museum in Changsha, China this Thursday, exhibiting precious cultural artifacts from all over Asia. The Hunan province, located in southeast China, has a rich history, from its first settlements in 350 BC, to being the home province of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong. But as China opens itself to more international collaborations, particularly with other Asian countries, displays like these bring to attention how interrelated our collective pasts have been, and how that can be an impetus for future collaborations.
The Hunan Museum is a provincial museum that was first constructed in 1951, and opened its doors to the public in 1956. The museum closed in 2012 for reconstruction and expansion, and reopened in 2017. The new building was designed by the China Central Academy of Fine Arts and Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, and it is on about 49,000 sq metres of land.
Hunan Museum
Hunan Museum houses over 180,000 historical objects from both the province and wider China, including the ancient graves of Chancellor Li Cang and his wife that were excavated from the archaeological site of Mawangdui (‘King Ma’s Mound’, located in Hunan’s capital city, Changsa) in the 1970’s.
Hunan Museum’s latest exhibition, titled “We Asia: Ancient Asians Civilizations Exhibition” features over 200 pieces of cultural relics across 10 Asian countries, including Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon and Mongolia. It is divided according to categories of statues, wares, coins and containers, showcasing precious ancient relics of Asia. It focuses on, and celebrates ancient and diverse Asian civilizations that have exchanged and learned from each other.
A vase displayed at the Ancient Asian Civilizations Exhibition
According to the organizers, the purpose of this exhibition was to use these relics to trace the development and continuity of historical exchanges between various cultures of Asia. The relics have been curated to showcase the integration of East Asia and West Asia, not just through trade and material exchanges, but also the dissemination of religious and philosophical thought via extensive networks like the Silk Road.
"Through the exhibition, we hope that visitors can appreciate the charm of the diverse cultures of Asian countries, and see the exchange and integration of eastern and western civilizations in Asian countries," said the curator, Yu Yanjiao. “We Asia” attempts to depict how aesthetics or objects particular to one culture, can actually be influenced by centuries-long affiliations and networks with another culture.
Visitors viewing a cultural artifact at the exhibition
Notable relics that have captured the visitors’ eyes include a rare female pottery statue from Pakistan, dating back to 3000 BC. Others include a silver cup with a goat pattern from Afghanistan that is over 4000 years old, gold coins issued by the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 B.C.), and a 2000-year-old glass bowl excavated from Beirut, Lebanon. Many of the exhibition’s relics have been cataloged and uploaded online here.
A Gandhara statue displayed at Hunan Museum in Changsha, the capital of Hunan
In June of this year Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haq, stated that Hunan should play a more prominent role in building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). As the home province of Chairman Mao and Yuan Longping, the ‘father of hybrid rice’, Hunan has a rich history from which to learn and study. The ambassador felt that given the Hunan province’s advanced agricultural techniques and industrial infrastructure, it would be mutually beneficial to cooperate more substantively with them.
During the second phase of CPEC, exhibitions and cultural exchange initiatives like “We Asia” go hand in hand with large-scale projects that encourage trade and industry. As the focus shifts to cultural education and exchange, projects which show the connections between not just Pakistan and China, but also the wider Asian continent are extremely helpful in showing the public the deep connections of Asian countries. With an awareness of our interconnected pasts, we may move forward with future projects with a newfound desire to cooperate and exchange ideas.
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