Unravelling the Silk Road
Study Day on Wednesday 25th March 2026 at 10:30AM
Lecturer: Chris Aslan
Venue: Larruperz Centre
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Each of the three lectures explores a textile and a road: wool, silk, cotton. We examine how textiles have changed the course of Central Asian history, politics and way of life. Each lecture will be embroidered with Chris Aslan’s own experience of living and working in the region for 15 years.
The Wool Road: How did tartan-wearing proto-Celts end up in China over 2500 years ago? We explore how nomads traversed the wool road, a vast corridor of grassland that stretched from Central Europe almost to the Pacific. With little fuel or shelter and winters down to -60˚, it was houses made from wool that gave these nomads the protection they needed. We focus on the way in which beautiful nomadic textiles were perfectly functional as well.
The Silk Road: We explore the birth of the Silk Road and discover how silk fuelled trade in goods, foods, art, inventions, commodities, religions, fashions and so much more, ushering in the first era of globalisation. We then focus on silk production today in Uzbekistan, where more of the population is involved in sericulture than in any other country.
The Cotton Road: This is inextricably interwoven with colonial exploitation and environmental catastrophe. We explore how British Rule caused the extinction of the most expensive fabric that had ever been woven, and how cotton became a form of anti-colonial resistance, leading to the overthrow of British rule in India. We explore the darker side of Russian chintz and that thieving Laura Ashley! We also witness how cotton has killed a sea, creating an environmental disaster even more devastating to human health than Chernobyl, and the experiences of cotton-pickers today.
Programme for the day: 10.30-11.30 Lecture 1; 11.30-12.00 tea/coffee break; 12.00-1.00pm Lecture 2; 1.00-2.00pm lunch break; 2.00-3.00pm Lecture 3.
Please bring your own packed lunch. Biscuits/cake will be available for both breaks.
Price: £30
Chris Aslan was brought up in Turkey and Beirut; his adventurous spirit led him as a young man to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, where he established a UNESCO workshop reviving fifteenth century carpet designs and embroideries, becoming the largest non-government employer in town. He was deported as part of an anti-Western purge, and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent several years in Tajikistan, training yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. Next came two years in Kyrgyzstan living in the world’s largest natural walnut wood and establishing a wood-carving workshop. Chris now divides his time between lecturing for the Arts Society, writing in his home in North Cyprus and returning to Central Asia to lead tours. His latest book is Unravelling the Silk Road.