Strikingly well-preserved mummies tall in stature and fair in complexion have lain in the parched Tarim Basin of western China for 3,800 years. Wearing Western-influenced textiles and possessing surprising technologies and customs, just who these extraordinary people were is a mystery!
This historic exhibition of 150 objects drawn from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum and the Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology in Urumqi, China reveals surprising details about the people who lived along the ancient Silk Road. For the first time ever, three of the more than 100 Caucasian mummies found and preserved in the western China’s inhospitable desert sands are being presented in the United States. An impressive array of objects are included in the exhibition to represent the full extent of the Silk Road, where lavish goods, technologies and ideas between East and West were adopted and exchanged. http://www.bowers.org/index.php/art/exhibitions_details/35
Masters of Adornment: The Miao People of China November 15 - December 31, 2010
This important collection of exquisite textiles and silver jewelry on loan to and from the Bowers Museum’s permanent collection highlights the beauty and wealth of the Miao peoples of southwest China. 
Symbols of status and culture, the elaborate textiles in this exhibition include finely pleated skirts, complex batik pattered cloth, intricate silk embroidery and shining textiles woven with metal. Over 50 examples of ornately designed and created silver bracelets, necklaces and decorative ornaments compliment and complete the exhibition of late 19th and 20th century Miao regalia. More than an examination of masterful techniques and beautiful style these objects reveal hundreds of years of Miao history and tradition and, the patience and dedication to achieve beauty.
