Thursday 6 February 2014

Silk Road Lecture Series in Los Angeles



Lectures 

“Recipes on the Road: Food Ideas Traveled Too”by Charles Perry
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Doors open at 6:30pm, Lecture 7-8pm
There was no market for recipes on the Silk Road, but food ideas did spread along it. Join Charles Perry, president and co-founder of the Culinary Historians of Southern California and former staff writer for the Los Angeles Times Food Section, as he takes us on a journey exploring the recipes on the Silk Road. In the earlier period, influence spread from the Iranian cultural world to China with the introduction of millstones, making wheat flour and Iranian-style dumplings possible. Some dishes invented in Sogdia (modern Uzbekistan) spread westward to the Middle East in the 9th century, and at some unknown date several centuries ago the Central Asian countries learned of the Indian chapatti. Later, a Central Asian pastry named chakchak appealed to the Manchus and is still made in China under its Manchu name, saqima. Chinese influence did not become strong in Central Asia until the 19th century.

“China and the World – The Silk Road Runs in Two Directions” by Terry McCarthy
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Doors open at 6:30pm, Lecture 7-8pm
Terry McCarthy, president and CEO of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, discusses the Silk Road today. At the height of the Silk Road in the ancient Tang dynasty, traders made fortunes as China exported silk, gunpowder, the magnetic compass and the printing press to Europe and Central Asia, while it imported musical instruments, wools, gold and silver. But the Silk Road also served as a transmission route for ideas – Buddhism being the most notable. Today China and the West have a similarly prosperous trading relationship, and along these trade routes not only goods, but also ideas continue to travel.

“Under Silk Road Skies” by Dr. E.C. Krupp and Dr. Laura Danly with an Introduction by Dr. Clifford V. Johnson
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Doors open at 6:30pm, Lecture 7-8pm
Join us for an evening with USC Physics and Astronomy Professor, Dr. Clifford V. Johnson, astronomer and director of Griffith Observatory, Dr. E.C. Krupp, and Griffith Observatory curator, Dr. Laura Danly.

“The Silk Roads as Spice Trails and Entry Points for Globalization: Culinary Exchange Between East and West" by Gary Paul Nabhan
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Doors open at 6:30pm, Lecture 7:30-8:30pm
Join Gary Paul Nabhan, author of "Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey" on a journey along the spice trade.

Space is limited! For more information, you may contact the Programs Department at (213) 763-ED4U or Click Here. to send an email.



These lecture series makes part  of the " Travel The Silk Road Exhibition which is from December 22, 2013- April 13, 2014 

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County900 Exposition Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90007


December 22, 2013 - April 13, 2014
“You are about to make an unusual journey...”

This is a chance to experience the Silk Road as it was 1,000 years ago -- oasis cities, night markets, camel caravans, spice merchants, and ancient science tools devised by sailors and scholars!

During its golden age (AD 600 to 1200), the Silk Road opened up the world to new ideas and products. It stretched 4,600 miles through scorching desert sands and freezing snowy mountain passes, from eastern China through Central Asia to the Middle East. But along the way, travelers stopped in cities that, at the time, were the most tolerant and advanced places on Earth. Now those cities come alive in the exhibitTraveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World.

As smells of spice and music from ancient Chinese instruments fill the air, vistors explore bazaars filled with gems and crafts; a silk-making workshop with live silkworms; ancient scrolls filled with the secrets of technology and religion beliefs; the inside of a long-ago cargo ship; and astronomy tools that helped mariners navigate the seas.
Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org) in collaboration with Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, Roma, Italy, and Codice Idee per la cultura srl, Torino, Italy; and the Museum at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore; and the National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia and Art Exhibitions Australia; and the National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan and United Daily News, Taipei, Taiwan.

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