From 17th to 19th March, 2008 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (New Delhi, India) the Third International Seminar on History of the Central Asian Collections in Institutions Worldwide was held in collaboration with the British Library, London. It was part of the International Dunhuang Project of the British Library, funded by Ford Foundation. Scholars from China, Russia and India were invited to the Seminar. The objective was to trace the journey of Central Asian collections from their archaeological site of origin to their present institution, focusing on either all Central Asian collections in one country, or on one discrete collection in an institution. The symposium was the last of the three organized in Russia, China and India under the project funded by the Ford Foundation for bringing together Scholars, Scholarship and Scholarly Resources on the Silk Road between 2006 and 2008. With its emphasis on building and continuing resources for Silk Road scholarship by focusing on hitherto neglected collections, the symposium provided an excellent opportunity for scholars from these countries to meet and exchange ideas. Five scholars from St Petersburg took part in the simposium, including three fellows of the IOM such as Prof Dr Irina Popova, Dr Alexander Zorin and Ms Anastasia Kolosova. The official programme of the symposium was as follows. Monday, 17th March 2008 (Inaugural Session) 10.30 a.m Registration 11.00 a.m — 11.10 a.m. Lighting of the Lamp Mangalacharan 11.10 a.m. — 11.15 a.m. Welcome Address 11.15 a.m. — 11.25 a.m. Address by Overseas Coordinator, Mr Alastair Morrison 11.25 a.m. — 11.30 a.m. Dr Ganesan Balachander, Representative of Ford Foundation 11.30 a.m. — 11.40 a.m. Address by Dr K.K.Chakravarty, Member Secretary, IGNCA 11.40 a.m. — 11.50 p.m. Presidential Remarks Shri Chinmaya R. Gharekhan, President IGNCA Trust 11.50 p.m. — 12.00 p.m. Inaugural Address — Shri Anand Sharma, Hon'ble Minister of State for External Affairs, Govt. of India Book Release: Xuanzang and the Silk Route 12.00 p.m. — 12.05 p.m. Vote of Thanks — Prof Irina Popova 12.10 p.m. — 12.30 p.m. Tea/Coffee Viewing of the Exhibition Compere Dr Sudhir Kumar Lall Monday, 17th March 2008 (1st Session) Chairperson: Mr Alastair Morrison 12.40 p.m. — 1.00 p.m. The Documentation of Central Asian Antiquities — Dr Radha Banerjee, Indian Coordinator for International Dunhuang Project (IDP) 1.00 p.m. — 1.20 p.m. Russian Expeditions to Mongolia in the 19th — 20th Centuries: Forming the Mongolian Collection at the Institute of Oriental Studies — Ms Anasiasia Kolosova, Russian Coordinator for IDP Project 1.20 p.m. — 1.30 p.m. Discussions & Chairperson's comments 1.30 p.m. — 2.30 p.m. Lunch Monday, 17th March 2008 (2nd Session) Chairperson: Ranabir Chakravarty 2.30 p.m. — 3.00 p.m. A Short History of the Central Asian Collection at National Museum of Korea — Dr. Haewon Kim 3.00 p.m. — 3.30 p.m. Dunhuang Art in the Central Asian Antiquities Collection of the National Museum, New Delhi — Dr Chhaya Haesner 3.30 p.m — 4.00 p.m. Sukhavati Scenes in the Murals from Dunhuang in the Stein Collection, National Museum, New Delhi — Dr. Shashi Bala 4.00 p.m. — 4.15 p.m. Tea 4.15 p.m. — 4.45 p.m. On the Ting Dong Collection of the Dunhuang Manuscripts — Prof Jiqing Wang 4.45 p.m. — 5.15 p.m. Discussions and Chairperson's comments Tuesday, 18th March 2008 3rd Session Chairperson: Ms Zhao Daying 10.00 a.m. — 10.30 a.m. Turfan Collection of A. Kokhanovsky — Prof Irina Popova 10.30 a.m. — 11.00 a.m. Monuments of Central Asian Art in the State Hermitage Museum — Dr Nikolai Pchelin 11.00 a.m. — 11.30 a.m. Language materials from Silk Road Sites in The National Museum of India — Prof. Saroj Kumar Chaudhuri 11.30 a.m. — 11.45 a.m. Tea 11.45 a.m. — 12.15 p.m. East Turkestan Collections at the Russian Museum of Ethnography — Ms Larisa Popova 12.15 p.m. — 12.45 p.m. The Structures of Dunhuang Banners and their Distribution Worldwide — Ms Le Wang 12.45 p.m. — 1.15 p.m. Discussions and Chairperson's comments 1.15 p.m. — 2.15 p.m. Lunch 2.15 p.m. Visit to National Museum Wednesday, 19th March 2008 (4th Session) Chairperson: Prof Irina Popova 10.00 a.m. — 10.30 a.m. Some Interesting Artifacts from Khotan — Shri Benoy Sahay 10.30 a.m. — 11.00 a.m. Survey on Liu Tingchen's former collection of Dunhuang Manuscripts at the National Library of China — Dr Gaowa Saren 11.00 a.m. — 11.30 a.m. Silk Road /Antiquities in Museums Across Xinjiang Province of China — Ms Sunita Dwivedi 11.30 a.m. — 11.45 a.m. Tea 11.45 a.m. — 12.15 p.m. Iconography of Buddha in a Sculpture from Khotan, Central Asia, kept in the Central Asian Antiquities Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi — Dr Sampa Biswas 12.15 p.m. — 12.45 p.m. The History of the Formation of the Tibetan Collection kept at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, the Russian of Sciences — Dr Alexander Zorin 12.45 p.m. — 1.15 p.m. Introduction of the Chinese and Tibetan Manuscripts from Dunhuang in Gansu Province P.R.C. — Prof Jingping Bao 1.15 p.m. — 1.45 p.m. Discussions & Chairperson's comments 1.45 p.m. — 2.15 p.m. Lunch Wednesday, 19th March 2008 5th Session (Afternoon) 2.15 p.m. — 2.45 p.m. To be announced — Prof Ranbir Chakravarti 2.45 p.m. — 3.15 p.m. Kyrgyzstan: A Buddhist Legacy — Mrs Radha Raina 3.15 p.m. — 3.45 p.m. Central Asian Textiles found in Dunhuang Collections — Prof Zhao Feng 3.45 p.m. — 4.00 p.m. Tea 4.00 p.m. — 4.30 p.m. New manuscripts in the Central Asian collection at the National Library of China — Ms Daying Zhao 4.30 p.m. — 5.00 p.m. Discussions & Chairperson's comments 5.00 p.m. Concluding/Valedictory Session Vote of Thanks — Dr Ajay Kumar Mishra PHOTOS: The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (the main entrance) 
The opening of the symposium, Lightning of the Lamp 
At the symposium: Prof Dr I.Popova (left) and Dr A.Zorin (right) 
At the symposium: Ms A.Kolosova
At the discussion: Prof Zhao Feng (left), Dr Haewon Kim (right)
At the Concluding Session: Kapila Vatsyayan (the IGNCA founder, a member of the Indian Parliament) and Mr A.Morrison (the British Library)
At the valedictory dinner: left to right - Prof Dr I.Popova, Mr Shri Chinmaya R. Gharekhan (President IGNCA Trust), Ms L.Popova, Mrs Gharekhan, Dr N.Pchelin, Ms A.Kolosova)
Photos by A.Zorin, A.Kolosova |