The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe.
Established when the Han Dynasty in China officially opened trade with the West in 130 B.C., the Silk Road routes remained in use until 1453 A.D., when the Ottoman Empire boycotted trade with China and closed them.
Although it’s been nearly 600 years since the Silk Road has been used for international trade, the routes had a lasting impact on commerce, culture and history that resonates even today:
At Pedrami Gallery, we propose a contemporary dialogue of artistic and cultural connections throughout the East and the West, by showcasing seven artists of our Gallery, in communication with the South-Korean guest-artist Subin Son, to question and understand how we experience art in a contemporary world, where culture is being constantly intersected.
This artistic exchange can be historically seen mostly in calligraphy, painting, porcelain, and sculpture trading during The Silk Road, where China and the Middle East interpreted each other’s culture. With a contemporary view and curated by Bruno Devos, the work of Nasser Bahkshi, Salam Ata Sabri, Roghayeh Najdi and Subin Son show how highly connected societies and media platforms become a tool to show art as an alternative exchange space for discussion of cultural transformations, social and global processes, and the reflection of problems that local societies face in a global context.
Movement, imagery representation and circulation are also historical concepts that artists make their own: Wendy Krochmal, Eileen Cohen Sussholz, Mohammad Barrangi, and Gil & Moti, put painting, performance and sculpture as a road that enables communication with a multicultural spectator, and show that the intermingling of peoples from seemingly disparate cultures is certainly one of the most important aspects of human society.