China-brokered Iran-Saudi peace dividend brings rare exhibits to Palace Museum

Global South’s growing willingness to organise exhibitions outside Western influence on display at Beijing shows, according to observers

Many of the ancient relics highlighting intertwined histories of Islam and ancient China cannot be displayed in the West because of US sanctions

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Ancient relics from Iran and Saudi Arabia are on display at the Palace Museum in China as part of growing cultural exchanges between countries of the Global South, according to observers. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:00pm, 30 Mar 2024

Beijing’s Palace Museum is hosting hundreds of Iranian and Saudi Arabian artefacts rarely seen in the West, in two exhibitions that are likely to have been a result of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s culture-focused diplomatic initiative, observers said.

The Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI) was introduced in March 2023 with the goal of “[injecting] strong impetus into advancing humanity’s modernisation process and building a community with a shared future for mankind”.

The GCI was expected to open up new prospects for “enhanced exchanges and understanding” as well as “better interactions and integration of diversified cultures”, according to an official statement last year. “Together we can make the garden of world civilisations colourful and vibrant.”

The relics, on display since January at the Meridian Gate – the pavilion and main entrance to the 600-year-old palace – also reflect the Global South’s growing willingness to organise exhibitions outside Western mediation, observers said.

From Al-Ula’s sandstone altars to Persian ceramics carved with Quranic patterns, the exhibitions examine the intertwined histories of Islam and ancient China through the exchange of goods and cultures along the Silk Road.

Many of the relics cannot be displayed elsewhere because of extensive sanctions imposed by Washington on the two countries, which last year signed a historic peace deal in Beijing.