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Inside one of the replica caves (Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
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A new exhibit at the Getty takes guests inside the ancient cave temples of Dunhuang, located along China's once bustling Silk Road. The Silk Road was a series of routes that people used for trade, so named for the sale of Chinese silk. Dunhuang is located in the Gansu Province in Western China and was considered a key stop along the Silk Road. There, you can find the Mogao Caves, which are believed to date back to the fourth century and were abandoned in the 14th century. There are nearly 500 temple caves here, full of Buddhist art and statues. Additionally, a number of ancient texts were found within a sealed cave in 1900. This cave has been called the Library Cave (or Cave 17), and was sealed in the 11th century.
This major exhibition, unprecedented in scope, is the first in North America to fully explore the art, environment, and conservation of the Buddhist cave temples of Dunhuang. The Mogao site, located at the edge of the Gobi Desert, is a testament to a thousand years of religious, commercial, and cultural exchange along the trade routes linking East and West, collectively known as the Silk Road.
Inside a replica cave (Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist) The most traditional part of the exhibit is the gallery of objects from the Library Cave. Here, you can spot sketches, silk paintings, embroidery and other well-preserved items on loan from the British Museum, British Library, the Musée Guimet, and the National Library of France. As you might be able to tell from those names, it's rare to be able to view these objects in the U.S.
Among them is the Diamond Sutra, a sacred Mahayana Buddhist text dating back to 868 CE. According to the British Library, it is the world's "the earliest complete survival of a dated printed book."
Jeffrey Levin, Getty's Communications Editor, Information and Communications, said that this particular cave was selected for the experience because it is "small, beautiful, with lots of sculptures. Even visitors to Mogao don't see it."
The Getty will also host several events surrounded the exhibit, including an interactive Family Festival, multiple lectures, a Yo-Yo Ma performance at the Hollywood Bowl, and related events at the Hammer Museum. See a full list here.
Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China's Silk Road is on view from May 7 to September 4 at the Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles. Hours are Tues.-Thurs, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Getty is closed on Mondays. Admission to The Getty is free, and timed tickets to the replica caves can be acquired for free on the day that you visit. Parking is $15/car or $10 after 4 p.m.
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