British Museum, the Silk Roads Exhibition
The Helgö Buddha- Star of the show
The little Helgö Buddha statue was the star of the “Silk Roads” exhibition organized by the British Museum in London from 26 September 2024 to 23 February 2025. It was the first object visible on the web site of the exhibition and to be presented in the introductory online briefing hosted by the British Museum on 10 October 2024. Several of the items in the British Museum shop such as a bag, a post card etc. featured the Helgö Buddha. The statue is presented as the object that best captures the essence of the era of the “Silk Roads”. In the past, I think it is fair to say that the figure has not been displayed as prominently in the Swedish Museum of History. During the ongoing exhibition, “The Viking World”, it is reasonably well presented together with two other objects of spiritual nature that were also found during archaeological excavations at Helgö. These are a Coptic bronze ladle from Egypt and an enameled copper-alloy crozier originating from Ireland. However, this is not at the level of prominence given to it by the British Museum in the “Silk Roads” exhibition.
What an incredible journey for the statue found in 1956 buried in the soil of the small island Helgö in Lake Mälaren - to have been lent to the British museum by the Swedish Museum of History to be part of the world class and much lauded international “Silk Roads” exhibition. This time the journey of the figure was not from one part of the world to another but across the North Sea to one of the British islands that were also frequently visited by the Vikings. There was an article in several Swedish newspapers highlighting the role of the Helgö Buddha at the exhibition at the British museum. This shows the significance of the statuette in the international context of the silk roads and to what extent it embodies and captures this historical era.
Another trip with the family to London to spend a weekend with Shyam after a long time combined with a visit to the “Silk Roads” exhibition. As always it is very pleasant to visit London for a long weekend. There are so many interesting cultural events to enjoy in the city but this time there is only one that is in focus. These days public transport strikes are very common in London. Fortunately neither the trains nor the underground are affected by strikes during our visit.
It was five years since we paid a visit to the British Museum, one of the premier institutions of historical knowledge and learning in the world. The museum was established in 1753 and opened its doors in 1759. It was the first national public museum of the world which covered all fields of human knowledge. The “Silk Roads” exhibition is heavily booked and we are fortunate to get tickets for Saturday afternoon. My expectations are most likely unrealistically high.
Before entering the special exhibition we spend half an hour in the South Asia section admiring the many statues on display. One of my favorites is the standing Tara gold gilded statue from Sri Lanka, made during the 8th century. That was an era when several statues of extremely high quality were made in Sri Lanka. It was also the period when both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhist schools were practiced in Sri Lanka.
We walk in to the dedicated museum shop for the “Silk Road” exhibition. The Helgö Buddha is featured on an attractive cloth bag, a mounted print, post cards and a refrigerator magnet. The exhibition book is a well presented description of the themes of the exhibition and is of course a must buy for me. Several of the books that have been helpful to our research while writing the book “The Journey of the Helgö Buddha” are available for sale.
A picture of the Helgö Buddha as an illustration to the introductory text in the Exhibition Book produced by the British Museum for the Silk Roads exhibition.
Walking through the entrance to the “Silk Road” exhibition the first thing we see is a queue of people. It turns out they are waiting to admire the “star of the show” – the Helgö Buddha, which is displayed in a glass cabinet. The statue literally shines in the bright spot lights aimed at it. There is a short text explaining its story with the heading “Broadening Horizons”. This prominence given to the figure feels like a great recognition of our research and work on writing the book about the fantastic little Buddha statue. It is truly a magnificent object with a strong spiritual presence that touches the heart and mind of every exhibition visitor.
The Helgö Buddha displayed as the first object encountered by visitors to the Silk Roads exhibition at the British Museum.
The Helgö Buddha could not have had a more prominent and significant role. A picture of the statue is accompanying the introduction to the exhibition book, called Silk Roads”. It is the object that best captures what the Silk Roads were all about. Maybe because it was unexpected and unlikely to find this Buddhist statue on an island in Lake Mälaren in Sweden, it also represents all the links, interactions and events that took place on the Silk Roads that we still do not know about and can only imagine. While walking through the exhibition I get the feeling that what we see is only the tip of the iceberg and that there is so much more to learn about. I am sure many of the visitors are stimulated to broaden and expand their interest and knowledge in relation to the Silk Roads.
The number of visitors to the “Silk Road” exhibition at a certain time slot is limited. Visitors are assigned a time when they have to enter the exhibition. In spite of this there are queues at every thematic display. The exhibition is clearly extremely popular with visitors from all parts of the world. The focus is on the period between 500 – 1000 CE. A selection of objects and short texts illustrate the main themes of the exhibition. The Vikings are featured in one of the themes. There is information and objects from the trade centre Birka, located 10 kilometers north of Helgö. The whole exhibition is well presented and gives an overview of the silk roads connectivity from Korea and Japan in the East to Spain in the west, from Viking land in the north to Africa, South and South East Asia in the south. In other words, it was the connector of the world at that time.
Through trade activities Buddhism spread from South Asia through Central Asia to East and South- East Asia. Buddhism is a central dimension of the exhibition. Several iconic Buddha statues including the Pensive Bodhisattva. The one on display, which is from the Tokyo National Museum, is smaller than the magnificent Pensive Bodhisattva statue in the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, South Korea. All in all it is a great exhibition which spans trade, politics, conflicts, diseases, environmental, cultural and spiritual aspects of the silk roads and presents a wealth of information that help us learn about and understand a very important era of global development and history. Of course I am subjective but I do feel “The journey of the Helgö Buddha” book builds on and covers many of the themes of the exhibition and I do not find any information that would contradict or raise serious questions about the story line told in the book. It is plausible and based on available historical facts and information. Buy the book here.