A Bridge Across Centuries: Sharjah Unveils the Intertwined Story of Chinese and Islamic Worlds

A landmark exhibition opens at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, revealing how the Silk Roads once connected two great civilisations through art, craft, knowledge and mutual admiration.

The morning light fell across galleries filled with objects that speak of a conversation spanning more than thirteen centuries. Sheikha Hoor bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of Sharjah Museums Authority, formally opened “Entwined Legacies: Dialogue and Interaction between Chinese and Islamic Civilisations” at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, unveiling a landmark cultural collaboration between Sharjah and the Shanghai Museum. It marks the Shanghai Museum’s first exhibition organised within the Gulf region, a significant moment in what Sharjah has long championed: the deepening of ties between distant peoples through the language of art and heritage.

One hundred and twenty four artefacts occupy the gallery spaces, gathered from two collections. Eighty seven have travelled from Shanghai Museum’s extraordinary holdings, whilst thirty seven come from Sharjah’s own museums, including pieces from the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, Hisn Khorfakkan, and Bait Sheikh Saeed Bin Hamad Al Qasimi. Each object tells part of a longer story. There is a polychrome glazed earthenware figure of a woman on horseback from the Tang dynasty, its glaze catching light as it has for more than a thousand years. There is a Jingdezhen dish bearing an Arabic inscription from the Zhengde reign of the Ming dynasty, a moment of cultural meeting frozen in ceramic. A faceted blue and white candlestick decorated with flowers, dating to the Yongle and Xuande reigns, speaks of shared aesthetic values that transcended geography.

The exhibition unfolds across four thematic sections, each exploring a different dimension of exchange. Visitors encounter evidence of how travellers and merchants moved along the Silk Roads, overland and by sea, beginning in the seventh century. They see how craftsmanship and design moved between cultures, how social and intellectual life found shared influences, and how trade and diplomacy bound the two civilisations together. Music, dance, astronomy, mathematics and literature emerge from the collections as proof that this exchange was never merely commercial, but deeply rooted in human curiosity and creative energy.

As Sharjah has demonstrated through its recent partnership agreements with Egypt, the emirate remains committed to using its museums as vessels for meaningful cultural dialogue. The inauguration ceremony brought together prominent figures from government, culture and diplomacy, including Zeng Jixin, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United Arab Emirates, and Ou Boqian, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, alongside local dignitaries and cultural leaders.

The exhibition remains on view until 9 May 2027 at Al Majarrah Gallery for Temporary Exhibitions. A panel discussion took place on the opening day, featuring Dr Chen Jie, Deputy Head and Curator of the Ceramics Department at Shanghai Museum, in conversation with Entisar Al Obeidli, Curator of Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation. The museum is organising an accompanying programme of events designed to deepen visitors’ engagement with the shared heritage on display, from families beginning their cultural journey to researchers and scholars pursuing deeper understanding.

What it means for Abu Dhabi

This exhibition reinforces Sharjah’s role as a cultural bridge between the Gulf and the wider world, an ambition that benefits the entire emirates region. By bringing these artefacts into dialogue, Sharjah demonstrates that the UAE’s approach to cultural stewardship extends beyond preserving its own heritage to understanding and honouring the connections that bind humanity across vast distances and centuries of time.

The opening also signals the UAE’s commitment to deepening relationships with China, one of the world’s most significant civilisations, through channels of mutual cultural respect and intellectual exchange. For visitors and researchers across the UAE, the exhibition offers a profound lesson: that globalisation and interconnection are not modern inventions, but patterns written deep into human history.

Source: WAM