About the TalkThe Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century marked a new phase in the development of Islamic art. Trans-Eurasian exchanges of goods, people and ideas were encouraged on a large scale under the auspices of the Pax Mongolica. With the fascination of portable objects brought from China and Central Asia, a distinctive, hitherto unknown style - Islamic chinoiserie - was born in the art of Iran.This illustrated lecture offers a fascinating glimpse into the artistic interaction between Iran and China under the Mongols. By using rich visual materials from various media of decorative and pictorial arts - textiles, ceramics, metalwork and manuscript painting - it demonstrates the process of adoption and adaptation of Chinese themes in the art of Mongol-ruled Iran. The observation of this unique artistic phenomenon serves to promote the understanding of the artistic diversity of Islamic art in the Middle Ages.Co-organized by the HKUST Center for Education Innovation, the HKUST Center for the Arts and the HKUST Library, this event is one of the "Silk Road" Talks of the HKUST Arts Festival 2018.This talk is open to the public. For general enquiries, please contact (852) 2358-8049 / artsctr@ust.hk.About the SpeakerYuka Kadoi, PhD, is an art historian with the expertise in the art and material culture of the Persian cultural world after the seventh century. She is the author and editor of numerous publications, including Islamic Chinoiserie (2009; paperback, 2018; Chinese edition, forthcoming); The Shaping of Persian Art (2013); Arthur Upham Pope and A New Survey of Persian Art (2016); and Persian Art: Image-making in Eurasia (2018). She has curated several exhibitions, including a major loan exhibition of Persian art at the Liang Yi Museum, entitled "The Blue Road: Mastercrafts from Persia" (20 March - 24 June 2018).  

About the TalkDuring the talk, Ms Saran will introduce the experiences mentioned in her travel book-cum-memoir, Chasing the Monk’s Shadow: A Journey in the Footsteps of Xuanzang. The book was shortlisted for Indias 2006 Hutch-Crossword Award for Literary Non-Fiction, and long listed for Germanys 2006 Lettres Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage. To research the book, Saran spent a year tracing the footsteps of Xuanzang, a 7th Century Chinese Buddhist monk who travelled along the Silk Road from China to India, passing through Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ms Saran will talk about her journey in Central Asia, drawing comparisons between her research on the Silk Road in the 7th century compared to her observations in the 21st century.Co-organized by the HKUST Center for Education Innovation, the HKUST Center for the Arts, and the HKUST Library, this event is one of the "Silk Road" Talks of the HKUST Arts Festival 2018.The talk is open to the public. Limited seat, please sign up at http://library.ust.hk/ce. Remarks: HKUST students may attain 1.5-hour attendance in the "Activities" module in Wellness & Personal Enrichment of the HLTH1010 Course. About the SpeakerFollowing an undergraduate degree in Chinese Studies from Wellesley College (USA), Mishi Saran worked in Hong Kong as a news reporter and as a freelance writer. Her articles have appeared in a variety of international publications including the Los Angeles Review of Books and Quartz, the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, the South China Morning Post and the Asian Wall Street Journal. Her short stories have won awards and been broadcast on the BBC.  

研討會簡介於鄭和之先：東亞最早的世界地圖 ──《大明混一圖》一幅珍貴而外界很少有人知曉的世界地圖──《大明混一圖》，約繪於明初洪武二十二年（1389年），三米見方的舊大陸地圖，東至日本、西至西歐和西非、北至西伯利亞、南至爪哇，較鄭和下西洋更早，現藏於北京中國第一歷史檔案館。中國古代地圖專家汪前進教授，將為我們解說《大明混一圖》的歷史地位和學術意義。名額有限，請報名留座 備註: 出席此座談會的同學可獲HLTH1010課程中"Activities"單元的"Wellness and Personal Enrichment"1.5小時學習時數。講者簡介汪教授現職中國科學院大學人文學院，曾任中國科學院自然科學史研究所研究員；他的學術範疇涵蓋中國地圖學史、中國地理學史、中外科技交流史等，對中國古地圖研究甚深。

座談會簡介過了馬六甲海峽，鄭和所到的西洋，究竟是今天甚麼地方？這些地方有甚麼重要性，現在又是甚麼樣子？在茫茫大海上，鄭和船隊使用的又是甚麼地圖和定位技術？由唐宋時海上絲路趨於興盛，到鄭和下西洋的時代，中國航海者留下不少文字，讓我們可以窺見當時中國人對東起孟加拉灣西達非洲東岸的大海洋，有多少認識。在旅行自由又容易的今天，加上互聯網無遠弗屆，跟講者來一次實地查探及書上追蹤，為自己打開一片廣濶的海洋世界。這次座談會是香港科技大學藝術節2018 “絲路講座” 系列的其中一講，由科大教育創新中心、科大藝術中心及科大圖書館合辦。名額有限，歡迎校外人士參加，請報名留座。備註: 出席此座談會的科大同學可獲HLTH1010課程中"Activities"單元的"Wellness and Personal Enrichment"1.5小時學習時數。如有查詢，請聯絡Ms. Alice Ho (lbalice@ust.hk)。講者簡介張倩儀小姐畢業於中文大學及香港大學，主攻文史和教育。多年來積極參與推廣閱讀和文化活動，如撰寫書評、香港書展名家推介，曾擔任中文大學讀書會、九龍城書節講者, 華語紀錄片節評審等。她亦曾經擔任商務印書館總編輯和康文署歷史博物館諮詢委員會委員。近年多寫遊記及文化觀察文章。個人著作曾獲香港書獎，青年文學獎。 

About the SpeakerFrom 1989 to 2014, Ms. Bonino worked in the Italian Department of China Radio International, hosting a program which received the prestigious China News Award in 2012. She is currently teaching Broadcasting at the Institute of Science of Communications at Wenzhou Business College, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. Gabriella Bonino is also a published author. In 2010, she published a bilingual (Italian/Chinese) collection of her programs, “La Cina ai miei occhi” (China in My Eyes), known in Chinese as 當代女馬可‧波羅的中國日誌(The China diary of a contemporary Marco Polo); five years later, in her native Italy, she published "Alla scoperta della Via della Seta: dalle carovane all’alta velocità" (Discovering the Silk Road: From Caravans to High Speed Trains).About the TalkCo-organized by the HKUST Center for Education Innovation, the HKUST Center for the Arts, the HKUST Library, and the Italian Cultural Institute, this event is one of the "Silk Road" Talks of the HKUST Arts Festival 2018.This talk is open to the public. For general enquiries, please contact (852) 2358-8049 / artsctr@ust.hk.