An international exhibition exploring the ancient cave art of Dunhuang, China, will open in Almaty on September 21 at 3 p.m. Visitors will be able to view reproductions of historic murals, digital images of cave complexes and interactive displays tracing cultural exchange along the Silk Road, DKNews.kz reports.
Kazakhstan’s National Central Museum announced that “The Millennium Silk Road – Dunhuang: A Heritage of Humanity,” developed by the Dunhuang Academy in China’s Gansu Province, will run until October 7, 2026.
Ancient art presented through digital displays
The exhibition draws on photographs, research by the Dunhuang Academy and digital cultural heritage resources. It explores how trade routes connected communities and carried artistic traditions, religious beliefs and knowledge across borders.
The displays are organized into four sections:
- Thematic reconstructions of Dunhuang’s cave monuments and cultural relics;
- Interactive, immersive digital programs;
- Multimedia presentations;
- Interactive creative projects.
Subjects include sculpture, murals depicting flying apsaras—celestial figures in religious art—and images of patrons from ancient Chinese dynasties. Architecture, folk customs and decorative patterns also feature.
According to the organizers, high-quality reproductions convey details of the murals, the current condition of the relics and the distinctive characteristics of Gansu’s cave art.
The exhibition extends beyond the Mogao Caves
Dunhuang is an ancient oasis city in northwestern China. Its position on the Silk Road made it a meeting point for trading caravans and different cultural and religious traditions.
Its best-known heritage site is the Mogao Caves, a complex developed between the fourth and fourteenth centuries CE, preserving roughly a millennium of Buddhist painting and sculpture.
The exhibition organizers describe Mogao as a complex of 735 caves, with approximately 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures. More than 70,000 documents and works of art were discovered in the Library Cave. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre highlights the murals and sculptures as valuable evidence of medieval China’s trade, culture and everyday life.
The Almaty exhibition also covers other sites in Gansu. Digital representations include the Maijishan, Bingling Temple, Beishiku, Yulin and Xiqianfodong cave complexes, alongside material on Yangguan Pass and Yumen Pass.
These images allow visitors to examine details that help explain the region’s artistic traditions.
Dunhuang specialist to give an academic lecture
The program includes a lecture by Ding Xiaosheng, a Dunhuang studies specialist and Deputy Director of the Research Institute for the Digitisation of Cultural Relics at the Dunhuang Academy.
Other activities include a performance by the Gansu Performing Arts Group, guided tours, educational programs on Dunhuang culture and a presentation introducing the historic city. Representatives of the organizing institutions will deliver opening remarks.
The exhibition is organized by the Dunhuang Academy, the People’s Government of Dunhuang City and Gansu Performing Arts Group Co., Ltd.
Supporting institutions include the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China’s Gansu Provincial Committee, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Gansu Provincial People’s Government, the province’s Department of Culture and Tourism, and the Chinese Consulate General in Almaty.
Organizers link the project to China’s state programs for cultural digitization and international communication. Its aim is to introduce overseas audiences to Dunhuang’s heritage through research, reproductions and digital exhibition formats.
Dates, location and visitor information
The exhibition opens on September 21, 2026, at 3 p.m. at the National Central Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 44 Samal-1, Almaty. It runs until October 7. For visiting arrangements, contact the museum at +7 (727) 264-46-50.
For more historical context, our earlier article examines the Sogdian letters and the cultural exchanges linking Dunhuang with Central Asia along the Silk Road.
