A renewed permanent exhibition “The Art and Culture of Central Asia” has opened in the Hermitage.
Two Headed Buddha.
Khara Khoto. Period of the Mongol invasion (1227 – late 14th century).
Clay, straw; traces of paint and gilding
The display contains around a thousand exhibits from different regions of Central Asia: Eastern Turkestan (the People’s Republic of China, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region), Khara Khoto (the People’s Republic of China, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), Dunhuang (the People’s Republic of China, Gansu Province), Tibet (the People’s Republic of China, the Tibet Autonomous Region) and Mongolia. The display provides insight into the cultural and historical past of the peoples who once inhabited those regions - the Asian Huns (Hsiung-nu), Chinese, Tibetans Tanguts, Mongols, Tokhars, Uigurs, etc. A considerable part of the exhibits illustrates the regional traditions of Buddhist art, since being the world’s oldest religion Buddhism was the dominant religion in Central Asia in the 1st millennium AD. The set of values it represented was shared by the peoples who differed significantly in terms of their languages and cultures.
Amongst the most ancient exhibits are the items from the Noin-Ula burial-mound (Northern Mongolia) at the time of the Asian Huns (Hsiung-nu), dating back to the late 1st century AD –the first third of the 1st century AD. They include Chinese silk fabrics and a felt carpet, fragments of a chariot, harness fragments, ornaments of gold, silver and jade, as well as a variety of household items. The archaeological monuments of 13th century Mongolia include the finds from Karakorum - the capital of the Mongol Empire - and the ancient settlement of Kondiusky. There is also on display here the famous Genghis Stone discovered in Transbaikal in the early 19th century.
The examples of painting and sculpture of Tibet and Mongolia represent a distinctive Tibeto-Mongolian form of Buddhism Mahayana (“Great Vehicle). The exhibition items give a clear picture of the artistic traditions of this regional Buddhist tradition, also widespread on the territory of Russia (Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tyva).
The collection takes pride in the unique ancient manuscripts and monuments of art from the dead town of Khara Khoto of the Tangut state of Western Xia (982–1227). The collection of Tangut paintings of the State Hermitage is recognized as being one of the most representative in the world.
A relatively small collection of murals, sculptures and fabrics comes from the Buddhist complex of cave temples at Mogao not far from Dunhuang. It consists of a number of unique monuments, including, for instance, a scroll with the image of bodhisattva Mandzhushri with a thousand arms and a thousand bowls. A separate room, which serves information purposes, displays the explications of general nature about the Buddhism and Buddhist art of Central Asia, about the national researchers of the region and the expeditions which, led by them, helped to form the specific collections (P.K. Kozlov, S.V. Kiselev, Academician S.F. Oldenburg and others).
