Traveling the Silk Road in the News

Wednesday, November 18 9:32 am

Young visitors explore the interactive map of the Silk Road. © AMNH/D. Finnin

“Hit the ‘Road,’ Camel and All,” beckons the New York Post in a story about the new exhibition Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World, which opened November 14 at the American Museum of Natural History. The vibrant, dramatic exhibition—which brings to life the greatest trade route of all time through the ancient cities of Xi’an, Turfan, Samarkand, and Baghdad—“succeeds with compelling vividness,” writes Edward Rothstein in The New York Times. There’s something for everyone but “kids will love parts of this journey,” declares Michael Fressola in the Staten Island Advance. “Appealing elements come into view at every turn, like life-sized, fully-rigged camels, live silk worms, scent stations, music stations, and passport check-ins” where visitors can stamp their travel papers at each stop along the way. Other highlights include an ongoing story hour, which features animation inspired by ancient art to tell timeless tales such as “The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg,” and a touch-screen map of the Silk Road that Peter Genovese of the Newark Star-Ledger calls “maybe the coolest—and certainly the most kid-friendly—piece in the exhibit.”