The Golden Road to Samarkand: Silk Road Cities (Samarkand & Bukhara), Diana Driscoll, SOAS
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 2017-04-05

https://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/
This lecture titled "The Golden Road to Samarkand: Silk Road Cities (Samarkand & Bukhara)" was given by Diana Driscoll (British Museum) on 13 February 2017 to accompany the Brunei Gallery SOAS exhibition Embroidered Tales and Woven Dreams (https://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/embroidered-tales/) and it was in association with the London Middle East Institute.

You can find out more about this event at https://goo.gl/ZhmkNr
Lecture to coincide with the exhibition Embroidered Tales and Woven Dreams 19 January – 25 March 2017.

The lecture will focus on the external architecture of these two cities developed from sun dried brick buildings to the fantastic tile work which we see on the outside and inside of these building. Why were they built, who built them and why have they survived to this day. Why do art historians use the term "Timurid" or "Eastern Islamic art & architecture"?

Diana Driscoll read her degrees at SOAS: BA Akkadian and Hebrew (Ancient Middle East with special subjects in History, Religion & Languages) and later MA in the History, Art and Architecture of Islam. She was Deputy Registrar at SOAS from 1980 - 92 and then moved to a post as Director of Education at the British Council, Hong Kong. It was here that she "discovered" the Silk Road and made many journeys into China which complimented her travels & studies in the Middle East, India and Iran. She is now an Independent Researcher in the Asia Department of the British Museum with a special emphasis on Silk Road trade. She covers 3,000 years of history & almost 7000 miles of trade from Morocco to China. Besides giving regular gallery talks on the Silk Road at the BM, she is a lecturer for the RA (Royal Academy)/Cox & Kings/ART TOURS and regularly accompanies groups to Uzbekistan, Morocco, Mughal India and Iran.

You can find out more about the London Middle East Institute at https://www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/