(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

Trade agreements with Central Asian, Eurasian and African nations with China, for example, have helped spawn and revive interest in and knowledge of the ancient Silk Road. This is part of China’s signature global infrastructure economic development strategy, an international program known as the Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路). As of June 2021, 206 cooperation documents have been signed with 140 countries and 32 international organizations. This has led to changes such as the designation of Xi’an as a contemporary target of opportunity municipality and dedication to its growth as the hub for such trade. As an ancient capital and commercial arcade, Xi’an served as the capital of 11 dynasties periodically from the 11th century BCE to the early 10th century CE and was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road and the historical gateway into dynastic China. Once again Xi’an has deliberately been made a showcase of an important crossroad for international exchange. Physical signs of its past and current significance are made clear in the recent government sponsored mall there called The West Market of the Great Tang (大唐西市) where evidence of contemporary trade is intermingled with stalls exhibiting past commerce from Central Asia across the Silk Road. Built on the very spot of the western market of Tang capital (8th century) used for international trade, the current visual hybridity—the camel caravan with its Central Asian band of musicians atop, modeled on an 8th century statue, and the McDonalds storefront—are perennially appropriate to the character of the place. This ambiguity and elision of the past and the present in the new economic program are evident in the choice of location, architectural and sculptural styles displayed at the new West Market are surely intentional and designed into the commission. The juxtaposition of these forms and expressions is the focus of this essay.