Conference on Silk Road Grotto Sites

Preparations are underway for the conference organized by the Getty Conservation Institute, the Dunhuang Academy, and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of the People's Republic of China. Originally scheduled for summer 2003, the conference was postponed due to the SARS epidemic.

Ninety papers from specialists in 18 countries have been accepted, and include the following keynote speakers:

Sharon Cather, Department of Conservation of Wall Painting, Courtauld Institute of Art, London;
Richard Engelhardt, Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, UNESCO Regional Unit for Culture in Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok;
Fan Jinshi, Director, The Dunhuang Academy;
Jin Hongkui, Deputy Director, Palace Museum, Beijing;
Zhang Wenbin, Director-General (retired), State Administration of Cultural Heritage;
Sharon Sullivan, former Executive Director, Australian Heritage Commission.

Printed abstracts will be available at the conference in English and Chinese. Oral presentations in English or Chinese will be 20 minutes in length, with simultaneous translation. Selected papers will be published in English, with Chinese abstracts.

The conference schedule will include visits to the Mogao grottoes and Yulin grottoes.

The optional 10-day post-conference tour (July 4-13, 2004) of Silk Road sites in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will include visits to Kuqa (Kuqa museum, Kizil, Kizilgaha, Kumtura, Simsim, and Aay grottoes, Subashi ruins, Kuqa market); Turfan (Jiaohe and Gaochang ancient cities, Astana tombs, Bezekelik grottoes, Emin Minaret, Turfan Museum, Karez underground irrigation system); and Urümqi (Urümqi Museum). Several of these sites are not usually open to the public. Dr. Dru C. Gladney, professor of anthropology at the University of Hawaii and specialist in Central Asian history, and Dr. Guolong Lai, Columbia University, a specialist in Chinese archaeology and art history, will be the tour's accompanying experts.

Registration deadline: March 14, 2004

For further information please contact:

Kathleen Louw
The Getty Conservation Institute
Tel: 310-440-6216
Fax: 310-440-7709
Email: klouw@getty.edu