As we approach the close of today’s events marking the celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme, I want to welcome those of you who have joined us for this evening’s cultural performance. I would also like to thank all of you who have attended and participated in these incredible events and activities today.
The long-lasting cultural, scientific, and commercial exchanges along the Silk Roads have played an important role in shaping our modern identities and societies, as we were reminded during this morning’s International Forum and this afternoon’s Scientific Symposium.
We have seen how the shared legacy of these exchanges is a vector of dialogue, trust, and peaceful cooperation in our globalized world. The outcomes of the Ministerial Forum will help UNESCO formulate new visions for the Programme’s future and maximize its potential for intercultural dialogue and peace. CHEN Jie, Vice Minister of Education and Chairperson of the China National Commission to UNESCO summarised it well today during the Ministerial Session. He said “diversity, inclusiveness and harmony are the cornerstone(s) for the development of human civilization” — and it is these principles by which we move forward!
UNESCO launched the Silk Roads Programme in 1988 with the aim of identifying the shared heritage and plural identities of the Silk Roads. The programme has succeeded in shedding light on the impact of these exchanges in a variety of fields, including science, technology and knowhow, medicine and pharmacology, sports and games, faith and spiritualties, as well, of course, as art, music and dance.
We had the pleasure this afternoon of hearing from some of the young scholars who won the “Silk Roads Research Grants”. And some of the finest photos of the ‘Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Photo Contest’ are currently displayed outside on the UNESCO headquarters gates. Congratulations to these young people. I invite you all to take a look if you haven’t already.
This evening’s concert marks the end of today’s celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Silk Roads Programme. It ties together many of the themes of today’s events once again exploring the impact of Silk Roads exchanges, this time through music and dance.
This evening, from Kazakhstan we will hear from the famous ethno-musical ensemble ‘Turan’ and renowned pianist Aktoty Raimkulova, as well as the trio Medet Chotabaev, Talgar Talgatuly, and Dina Mirmanova.
From Azerbaijan we are fortunate to be joined by pianist Saida Zulfugarova and flutist Agarahim Guliyev whose musical styles blend Eastern and Western influences from the Silk Roads.
These performances are an audio and visual dialogue between cultures connected by the common legacy of the Silk Roads. A true representation of the exchanges of the Silk Roads.
Based on today’s fruitful exchanges, we look forward to enhanced collaboration with all Programme partners in the future. Today’s events have certainly highlighted potential avenues of further collaboration, for example the History of Mongolic and Nomadic Civilizations projects to name just one. As Lazare Assomo, Director of World Herritage at UNESCO reminded us this morning, it is up to all of us to ‘rise to our responsibilities’ in continuing to pursue partnerships for protecting and promoting the shared heritage of the Silk Roads.
I would like to thank, once again, the co-organizers of this evening’s concert, the permanent Delegations to UNESCO of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the People’s Republic of China. It has been greatly encouraging to hear Ministers reaffirm their support of Social and Human Sciences and the Silk Roads Programme here today.
I also thank the permanent delegations to UNESCO of Mongolia, and Oman, for their support of the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Silk Roads Programme.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr Li Rouhong,
I am delighted to welcome you to the official presentation of the ‘Masterpieces of the Silk Roads’ and the ‘Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads’ exhibitions to mark the occasion of the 35th Anniversary of the Silk Roads Programme.
I must thank Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan and Oman for co-organizing this beautiful exhibition. I would also like to extend our sincere gratitude to Beijing International Peace Foundation and its chairman, Dr. Li Rouhong, who is here with us today. Without your continued generous support, the Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads contest would not be possible, so thank you.
As we have heard today, the legacy of the Silk Roads is cultural exchange. Started thousands of years ago, this exchange continues to take place within and between the countries along the Silk Roads.
Since 2018, the Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads Contest has shone a light on this sharing of cultures and the spirit of peace it has helped to promote. The Contest is a platform for young people to capture the shared legacy of thousands of years of intercultural exchanges through the lens of their cameras. We have received more than twenty thousand submissions from over one hundred countries. And the photos are amazing.
Previous themes include ‘Music and Dance’, ‘Traditional Sports and Games’, ‘Gastronomy and Food Production’, and ‘Textiles and Clothing’.
For this edition, participants were invited to “reveal the Silk Roads” through two themes: ‘Living Together’ and ‘Faith and Spiritualities’
Today, winning photos from this contest are being exhibited outside UNESCO. Selected from over 5,000 entries, these winning photos were taken by young people across this route from Myanmar to Singapore, from Ireland to Syria, from Bangladesh, to Mongolia, from Bangladesh to China…
The breathtaking images outside illustrate the ways we live together and learn from each other. Through the photos you can see glimpses of life and cultures across the Silk Roads including celebrating different faiths in different places; sharing a meal during Ramadan in the ruins of Idlib, Syria; commemorating Holi, the festival of colours, in Uttar Pradesh, India; and weaving carpets in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia.
I encourage all of you to take the time to look at these striking images and think reflect on the stories they tell.
Shortly, you will hear the beginnings of these stories from one of the young winning photographers, Ms. Gala Vilarasa Richard.
The Masterpieces of the Silk Roads exhibition, currently on display inside UNESCO, also reflects the legacy of exchanges, showcasing outstanding works from along the Silk Roads, including oil and watercolour paintings, prints, multimedia, photography, and sculpture. Among these works are paintings by contemporary Chinese artists whose subject matter is the customs of countries along the Silk Roads and the achievements of cross-cultural exchanges. The exhibition also features a considerable collection of paintings from young Kazakh artists showcasing their understanding of the Silk Roads legacy, as well as brilliant photography from Oman and Azerbaijan.
I hope these exhibitions provide a fresh perspective on the legacy and heritage of the Silk Roads, one which resonates with the wide international audience here today. These exhibitions also bear witness to the Silk Roads as a source of creativity and artistic expression. At UNESCO, we know that the Silk Roads can continue to provide considerable inspiration to artists all over the world with its evocations of dynamic encounters and exchanges.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I now declare the exhibition open and hope you will enjoy this brilliant collection of masterpieces of the Silk Roads.
Thank you once again for joining us for the UNESCO Silk Roads 35th Anniversary.
Your Excellency Minister Askhat Razdykovich Oralov, Your Excellency Deputy Minister Saadat Yusifova, Director-General Battogtokh Dorjgotov, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the opening of the 35th anniversary celebration of the UNESCO Silk Roads Programme. Today we will not only celebrate the achievements of the past but look to the future and reflect on what comes next for this important programme.
The Silk Roads Programme was inspired by the ancient trade network of the same name. Though the network is famed for its exchange of goods, something far more precious was traded on the Silk Roads: knowledge and culture. Today, UNESCO’s Silk Road Programme’s vision is to revive this spirit and to promote a culture of peace by fostering intercultural exchange and dialogue.
As our world faces multiple crises, the need to learn from our past and nurture a culture of peace through dialogue and exchange is more apparent than ever.
We are seeing rises in xenophobia, racism, and discrimination. We are seeing rises in gender-based violence and discrimination — with one in two women reporting experiencing direct or indirect violence. We are seeing societies torn apart by turbulence, with a record 100 million people forcibly displaced. A record that never should have been set.
And all of this comes after two years of instability, lockdowns, closed borders, school closures and more. It comes as we continue to grapple with the loss of over 6 million people to the pandemic.
In the face of this reality, we cannot be complacent. In a world that threatens to tear us apart, we must come together and learn to leverage the strength of our diversity. As done in the past, we must create roads for cultural exchange and dialogue.
At UNESCO, we are creating these roads through the Silk Roads Programme.
Since its inception, the Programme has sought to promote the legacy of dialogue and exchange of the Silk Roads.
Through the Programme, UNESCO has built the research base identifying the shared legacies and plural identities that have been developed through cultural, scientific, and commercial exchange along the Silk Roads.
The first phase took place from 1988 to 2002 within the ‘Integral Study of the Silk Roads, Roads of Dialogue’ and implemented through the organization of scientific expeditions, conferences, research initiatives, and various cultural events. The aim of all these initiatives was to identify the shared legacies and plural identities that have been developed along the Silk Roads.
In addition, during this time one hundred young researchers were supported through the UNESCO-Japan Hiryama Silk Roads Fellowship in collaboration with the National Art university of Tokyo and with the support of government of Japan. Phase one of the Programme also lead to the establishment of major institutions, such the ‘International Institute for Central Asian Studies’ in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, the ‘Maritime Museum’ in Quanzhou, China, and the UNESCO Category II Centre ‘International Institution for the Study of Nomadic Civilization’ in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia among others.
Later, by launch of its 2nd phase in 2012, in line with the overarching objectives of UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector, the Silk Roads Programme succeeded in digitalizing and disseminating more than 7,500 pages of scientific papers, publications, illustrations, and photos through the ‘Silk Roads Online Platform’. Furthermore, new research centres have been established, including the ‘UNESCO Chair of the Silk Roads Studies’ at Kings College Cambridge.
The programme has also mobilized renowned experts from all over the world for developing the ‘Thematic collection of Cultural Exchanges along the Silk Roads’ the first volume of which, ‘Textile and Clothing’, was published last year in collaboration with the China National Silk Museum. We are currently developing its second volume, on ‘Architecture, Monuments and Urbanism’, in collaboration with the Nanjing Creative Centre, with plans to publish future volumes in collaboration with renowned academic centres around the world.
With a strong focus on youth as stakeholders and actors of change, in 2020, the Programme launched a new capacity building initiative with the support of the People’s Republic of China, a research grant mobilizing young researchers for further study of the Silk Roads shared legacy. We are fortunate to be joined by the first cohort of research grantees today who will later present their grant winning research during the scientific symposium this afternoon.
UNESCO also encourages young people’s creativity through the ‘Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads’ photo contest Over the last four editions, this contest has mobilized more than twenty thousand boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 25 years old from over one hundred countries to identify and capture the elements of the shared heritage of the Silk Roads with their cameras. We have the privilege of displaying a selection of the best submitted photos to this photo contest in the exhibition currently featured on UNESCO Headquarters gates outside. I would like to thank the UNESCO partner of this photo contest, the Beijing International Peace Culture Foundation for their generous support in the implementation of this initiative.
UNESCO has also encouraged research on the topic, with the development of fellowships through the generous support of Japan and establishment of major research institutions. Through the generous support of China, UNESCO has launched a research grant for young researchers studying the Silk Roads shared legacy. Later today, you will hear from the first twelve grantees who will present their winning research.
UNESCO also encourages the creativity of young people through the ‘Youth Eyes on the Silk Roads’ photo contest. In four editions, the contest has mobilized more than twenty thousand boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 25 to capture the heritage of the Silk Roads with their cameras. We have the privilege of displaying a selection of the best photos from the contest in the exhibition currently outside UNESCO Headquarters. I would like to thank our partner in this photo contest, the Beijing International Peace Culture Foundation, for their generous support of this initiative.
An integral part of UNESCO’s work for a culture of peace and intercultural dialogue, the Silk Roads is part of a wider cohort of programming.
UNESCO’s Master Class Series against Racism and Discrimination is empowering young people to be anti-racist champions.
The recently launched UNESCO Initiative for Enabling Intercultural Dialogue is building the knowledge base on what makes intercultural dialogue effective. Through a data-based Framework covering 160 countries, this Initiative provides the first guide for effective dialogue for peace and human rights. UNESCO’s Art Lab for Human Rights and Dialogue is using the transformative power of the arts to promote reconciliation and social cohesion.
I could go on, but throughout today you will hear more about the work we are doing to support a culture of peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, the aim of today’s sessions is to consult experts, stakeholders, and Member States to assess the success of the Programme during last 35 years and to define the strategies for its future, as we aim to reach other target groups and regions and reinforce programme’s impact.
Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to the co-organizers of today’s event, without whom it would not be possible: the Republic of Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Sultanate of Oman, and Mongolia.
I would also like to thank our 23 national focal points, without whom our Programme would not be possible.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those participating in the sessions today. We are very fortunate to be in the company of friends of the Programme who have been instrumental in its implementation.
As we look to the next 35 years, I hope we will have your continued support for this important programme. For those who have not yet joined, I would encourage you to join in celebration of this anniversary of global cooperation.
Thank you, and I wish you all a successful forum and hope you enjoy today’s celebration.
Gabriela Ilian Ramos 