Talk by Helen Wang, Dept of Coins and Medals, The British Museum & Victoria Sluka, Doctoral Candidate in Textile Archaeology, University of Wisconsin-Madison on Silk Road Textiles on Banknotes of the Central Asian Republics

Cambridge Central Asia Forum in collaboration with the Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge invites you to a talk by

Helen Wang, Dept of Coins and Medals, The British Museum & Victoria Sluka, Doctoral Candidate in Textile Archaeology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

on

Silk Road Textiles on Banknotes of the Central Asian Republics

Date: 12 May

Time: 11am

Venue: SG2, Alison Richard Building and On Zoom (https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYtdO6qrTktG9L6qyVW3RJrl_ipKRUUx3PI) 

Abstract : Since independence in 1991, the Central Asian republics have used traditional textiles to construct their national identities and to strengthen their association with the famous Silk Roads. This national branding is exemplified by the designs used on modern banknotes, reflecting each nation’s priorities and preferred associations. The talk discusses these images, what crafts they are supposed to represent, and how those crafts are worked into each country's identity narratives. 

Biographies-

Helen Wang, Dept of Coins and Medals, The British Museum : Curator, and author/editor of various publications relating to money, textiles as money, the Silk Road, and Sir Aurel Stein, including Money on the Silk Road: the evidence from Eastern Central to c. AD 800 (2004), Dunhuang Textiles in UK Collections (2007), Textiles as Money on the Silk Road (2013), The Fabric of Banknotes: Textiles in and on paper money (2022) and Silk Road Textiles on Banknotes of the Central Asian Republics (2022).

Victoria Sluka, Doctoral Candidate in Textile Archaeology, University of Wisconsin-Madison : Sluka studies variation and error in Central Asian knotted textiles, particularly carpets. Her work uses ethnographic and historic carpets to understand how changes in technology, technique, social constraints, and weaver experience affect a finished textile. Sluka has presented her work at various international meetings, including several hosted by UNESCO, IICAS, and craft organizations in Central Asia.