Review by Choice Review
In 1998, renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma founded the Silk Road Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to the arts and cultures of the Silk Road, a network of trails connecting East Asia to the Mediterranean Sea and heavily traveled by merchants, monks, and adventurers from the second century BCE to the 14th century CE. Part of a publisher series on Asian art and culture, this book consists of seven essays describing cultural exchanges (astrology, fiber, technology, cinema, and music) that began on the Silk Road. Every page of this slim book is illustrated in color with vivid pictures. Theodore Levin's earlier book The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia (and Queens, New York) (CH, Jun'97) was a precursor to this project and may also interest readers. The book under review is timely in seeking to understand the cultures of Asia; the Silk Road, "the Internet of antiquity," offers a great place to begin this understanding. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, June 2002 in Washington, DC, featured musicians, crafts, and food from the Silk Road Project. An excellent addition for all libraries. N. M. Lambert University of South Carolina at Spartanburg
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
This beautiful volume of pictures and observations grew out of cellist Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, a nonprofit foundation that promotes the living arts of the lands through which the fabled trade route ran. Blessed with one of the most fascinating, cosmopolitan histories on Earth, the region of the route manifests the closest thing to a culture of East-West synthesis that can be found. The book's perceptive essays on topics ranging from astrology to technological evolution come alive in the stunning accompanying pictures, which convey the tremendous vitality and the haunting isolation found along the Silk Road. Particularly captivating is the photo sequence of holy sites and monasteries, which in black-and-white resemble ruins on a lunar landscape. There is more than ancient desolation, however. The concluding chapter is on Iranian cinema, which Hamid Naficy deftly describes as an arena in the ongoing struggle between tradition and progress in the cradle of civilization. --Will Hickman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
The famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma started the Silk Road Project in 1998 to further cultural study of a swathe of countries from Japan to France that lie along the old trade routes across Asia, which facilitated the exchange of goods like silk and spices. Also exchanged were ideas governing disparate facets of culture, like music, art, and philosophy. This book was assembled to accompany various festivals, concerts, films, and CDs associated with the project. Seven illustrated chapters by seven authors cover the history of Iranian cinema, the textiles of Central Asia, metalworking technology transfer, astrology, sacred sites of the Silk Road, the music of China, and a conversation with Ma. The material is fascinating, and the presentation is clear and accessible to nonscholars, but unfortunately no framework is provided; the only links are geographical. A further discussion of cultural connections would have been welcome, but the beautiful illustrations do hint at a rich cultural heritage. Recommended for Asian studies collections in academic or larger public libraries. David McClelland, Philadelphia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
