November 23, 2008 marked the 190th anniversary of the oldest Orientalist establishment of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which had successfully moved from the Asiatic Museum to the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts.

To commemorate this date, the following Jubilee Events are scheduled to take place in St Petersburg, from December 9 to 12:

December 9, at 11.00 – joint session of the St Petersburg Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Academic Council of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, dedicated to the 190th anniversary of the Asiatic Museum – the IOM (Grand Conference Hall of the St Petersburg Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb., 5).

December 9, at 14.00 – opening of the exhibition The Caves of a Thousand Buddhas: Russian Expeditions on the Silk Road, marking the 190th Anniversary of the Asiatic Museum, prepared jointly by the Hermitage and the IOM (the State Hermitage, Dvortsovaya emb., 34).

An invitation letter was designed for the opening of the exhibition:

December 10-12 - Jubilee Scholarly Conference From the Asiatic Museum to the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts: 190 Years of Oriental Research (the IOM, Dvortsovaya emb., 18).

The conference will cover various aspects of traditional Oriental studies, such as research into Eastern manuscripts and archival documents, methods of translation and interpretation of the traditional written heritage of the East, studies of ancient and mediaeval history of the Asian and North African countries, their religions and philosophy.