On the roads of Samarkand, l’Institute du Monde Arabe

 

On Tuesday I finally went to see On The Roads to Samarkand at Institute du Monde Arabe

Which is exactly a 5-minute walk from my house.

Isn’t it always like that…

What is closest by, you overlook. 

Yet this is an absolutely exquisite exhibition. 

Definitely one of Paris’ Don’t Miss exhibitions

But so easily overlooked. 

People tend to naturally plan visits to museums in central Paris like the Louvre, Orsay, Petit Palais, the Pompidou. 

Or the small artist’s museums. The ethnic museums like Monde Arabe often get overlooked (January’s map letter coming soon). 

But back to Samarkand 

And The Silk Road. 

The wall of old photographs is haunting as you go down to the first floor.

Yaffa Assouline, initiated and curated the show at du Monde Arabe. 

Look how the rhythmic fabric patterns coordinate perfectly with the Uzbek architecture. 

Decorative painted saddles displayed against the arid sands of Uzbekistan. Art historian Yannick Lintz wrote: “Uzbekistan finds itself on the crossroads between the East and the West. Since ancient times, the conquests of Alexander the Great—after the Persians Darius and Xerxes—as well as the influence of the great neighbors west of China and India, for centuries, permeated the religions, the economy and the culture of this country, leaving behind a history of human dialogue and absolutely fascinating art." Somewhere to make us dream. 

How did I finally get to this gorgeous exhibit so close to my house? 

By recommending PBer Carolyn eat pomegranate seeds daily (1 tablespoon) to avoid Winter colds and flu. 

I saw this poster in Annecy marché. I’ve been eating seeds (arils) daily for eons = no flu or colds.

Skip the bottled juice unless you squeeze it yourself (you can in Franprix in Paris! 3,99€). When I was in Teheran, eons ago, you could buy fresh pom juice on any street corner for a song.

Food photographer Solli saw our pictures and got inspired to make beautiful pomegranate cake photos with pom seeds! The mini poms lower right is mine, from Lafayette Gourmand. Supposedly you can grow a pomegranate tree inside your house. It only takes 6-7 years and not too much watering.

It was pomegranates that got me to the exhibit.

I was sure I would see them since poms are native to Central Asia. I did.

I finished my visit in the museum cafe with thé à la menthe & a cornet cookie. The marvelous Samarkand exhibit is on through 4 June, so we both have a chance to visit. And don’t miss visiting my Etsy shop please ❤️