Launched by UNESCO in 1988 as part of the World Decade for Cultural Development, the Silk Roads, Roads of Dialogue programme has helped to highlight the shared heritage of the peoples of the Eurasian continent. The concept of “the road” has since become a conceptual framework for thinking about cultural exchanges and interactions between populations, explains Doudou Diène, former director of UNESCO's Division of Intercultural Dialogue.
Interviewed by
Agnès Bardon
UNESCO
Doudou Diène
former director of UNESCO's
Division of Intercultural Dialogue
How did the idea for the UNESCO Silk Roads project come about?
The idea was first raised in the 1950s by the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO at a conference on East-West relations held in 1957 in New Delhi, India. But it took another thirty or so years before it became an operational programme.
From the early 1970s onwards, intercultural dialogue became an important concern of UNESCO. The Organization approached the issue academically, through anthropological, sociological and historical research. This scholarly approach was necessary, but it was also important to find a way of translating this notion into more concrete terms, to fit it into the real world.
What happened next was something of a coincidence. It so happened that two colleagues on a mission to Asia – Eiji Hattori, who was to become the Executive Secretary of the Silk Roads Unit, and Mario Ruivo, who headed the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission – came across an article on the Silk Roads during their trip. They thought that it could be a means to address the question of intercultural dialogue. They shared their idea with me and we started working on the project.
The name Silk Road was not new. It was coined in the 19th century by a German geographer,Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen,to designate the trade routes between Asia and Europe. Silk was the most emblematic, precious and mysterious product in the trade between China and the rest of the world.Legend has it that the Empress Leizu was having tea under a tree one day when a cocoon fell into her cup.When she removed it, she realised that it was made of a single thread.
For centuries,China traded in silk, jealously guarding the secret of its manufacture. The history of silk is therefore also the story of the spread of a product throughout Eurasia, a geographical area that stretches from Korea to Portugal.But it is much more than a trade route. It is also the story of the movement of populations and exchanges between these different populations, and it is through this route that religions were also spread. This is why this route seemed to us to be the most productive means,both geographically and historically, to translate the concept of interculturality.
How was such a large-scale program developed?
For our project to be viable,it had to have scientific endorsement. We therefore consulted historians,geographers and anthropologists,who considered that the problem was relevant and that our approach was well founded. Following these consultations,we launched our project,which we called Silk Roads,Roads of Dialogue. People thought we were crazy.
Two main ideas guided our thinking. From the outset,it seemed to us that the work of documenting this project had to be interdisciplinary and integrate the natural sciences and the humanities, as well as cultural expressions such as theatre,the arts and dance.We also wanted the programme to be more than just a series of scholarly meetings held at headquarters.We had to go into the field,where history happened.With this in mind,we envisaged launching major expeditions,both overland and at sea.
But this meant that the governments of the countries concerned had to open their borders to us.This was an even greater challenge because we wanted our expeditions to have complete freedom of movement Also,our study sometimes dealt with sensitive areas that touched on heritage,the teaching of history and the relations that the populations had with their neighbours.
To give our project a solid legitimacy,we created an international multidisciplinary scientific committee. This was a decisive step in convincing the countries. After many meetings, they finally agreed. China's commitment was decisive from this point of view because it was from Chang'an, the current Xi'an, in the west of the country, that the Silk Roads started. The support of Japan and the Republic of Korea were also important.
What were the sources of funding for the Silk Roads expeditions?
Getting the necessary funding together was a real achievement. In the late 1980s, UNESCO was in a serious financial crisis and was not in a position to finance a project like this.So,we had to look for the money elsewhere.As a start,we arranged for the authorities in each country the expedition was passing through to take care of food and accommodation for the team.
We also obtained funding from several major international media, notably from Japan and Korea.From the start,we wanted the media to be an integral part of the expeditions,in order to give visibility to our work and to raise public awareness. For each expedition, several media outlets were selected and, fora fee of US$25,000,they were allowed to come on board.We also benefited from the occasional support of certain countries such as Oman.Thanks to Sultan Qaboos,who put his personal boat, the Fulk al-Salamah,at our disposal,we were able to launch a maritime expedition.It was therefore a complex arrangement, with a variety of funding,that made the expedition possible.
How did the programme unfold on the ground?
The first overland expedition left from 20 July to 3 August 1990, tracing the historic route from Xian to Kashgar in the west of China. The team consisted of international experts,members of the Silk Roads Project Advisory Committee and media representatives. In total, 19 countries were represented.
This was followed by the maritime expedition between Venice (ltaly) and Osaka (Japan) which left in October of the same year and spent 54 days of the 154-day journey at sea.In the same year, the Steppe Route in Central Asia ran from Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan via Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Then it was the Nomads’ Route in Mongolia the following year. This cycle of expeditions ended in 1995 with the Buddhist Route in Nepal.
Looking back, what lessons have you learned from this adventure?
The idea was for the countries to take ownership of the discoveries. With this in mind, we organised a large number of seminars in the countries we crossed. These gave rise to a rich documentary archive – comprising texts, photos and videos – that can still be used today. Finally, we set up structures to perpetuate the study. The first was the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS) in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), which still exists, and the International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations (IISNC) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The Silk Roads project has enabled us to rethink our ideas on interculturality and dialogue. It has helped to demonstrate scientifically that all identities are constructed over time and that all are the result of interactions between peoples. More broadly, the Roads concept has become a conceptual framework for thinking about exchanges and reciprocal interactions between populations. It is this matrix that was used to design The Slave Route* launched by UNESCO in 1994 in Ouidah, Benin, and the Routes of Al-Andalous aimed at exploring the progressive construction of a plural identity and a common heritage inherited from medieval Spain.
