Featuring extraordinary items from the Buddhist caves complex of Mogao known as the Library Cave, this exhibition explores the stories of the people who inhabited or passed through the bustling town of Dunhuang on the edge of the Gobi Desert, a vital resting point along the trading routes known as the Silk Road that connects China with the Mediterranean.

Only rediscovered in 1900, the contents of the Library Cave span the 4th to the 11th centuries, and demonstrate the fascinating stories of religious, artistic and cultural exchange that took place at this pilgrimage site.