Virtual Exhibitions

Influences of the Silk Road

Although we traditionally think of the Silk Road as a single route across the deserts of Central Asia, it was in fact a complex web of overland and maritime trade routes linking Asia, the Middle East and Europe.  Material goods and ideas went far beyond the established routes. Silk from China made its way into the courts of Europe along the same routes that brought knowledge of gunpowder, paper and navigation technology to Europe and Western science to China. Leopard fur from Africa was traded in Asia along routes that also brought the religion of Islam.

This virtual exhibition highlights selected explorers of the Silk Road, features downloadable podcasts of curatorial commentary, and links to a Bukhara Qu'ran and other holdings of the Rare Books Division, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, at the University of Utah.

Visit Influences of the Silk Road

Patrick Nagatani's Nuclear Enchantment

Nagatani’s photographic series Nuclear Enchantment can be explored in its entirety in this new virtual exhibition.

A New Mexico resident, Patrick Nagatani often uses the local landscape as a stage for scenes that comment wryly on the atomic history and nuclear industry of the area. Drawing on his background in movie set design, Nagatani creates and photographs elaborate installations that combine life-size foam-board cutouts, handcrafted miniature models, paint and collage elements. The resultant images amount to a kind of theater of the absurd, questioning the frequent clash between human culture and scientific advancement.

Presented in conjunction with Desert Secrets, this online exhibition features a timeline of nuclear development, a Google Maps tour of the sites depicted in Nagatani’s photographs, and short videos that illuminate the compelling history and complex techniques behind his work.

Visit Patrick Nagatani's Nuclear Enchantment

Splendid Heritage:
Perspectives on American Indian Art

The UMFA is honored to curate and premiere this extraordinary exhibition of American Indian art from the John and Marva Warnock Collection. Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art will present 149 objects of unique artistry and powerful cultural expression from the Native people of the Plains, Plateau and Northeast.

Enjoy this interactive look into the objects and how they are made. Complete with interviews with Curators Emma Hansen and Bernadette Brown, this program will prepare you for your visit, or quench your thirst for knowledge.

Available in English and Spanish.

Visit Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art