[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Late Japanese collector and artist Ikuo Hirayama traveled frequently to countries and regions along the ancient Silk Road since the 1960s.

And he made several sketches and paintings to depict what he saw along the way, besides building a collection of antiques showing the exchanges among different civilizations.

[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

A selection of Hirayama’s collection, covering the period between 2,000 BC and the 8th century AD, is now on display at the National Museum of China, and it will run through Feb 24, 2019.

The first section of the exhibition features objects from the Mediterranean area which show the brilliance of the Greek and Roman cultures, as well as an influence of West Asia and North Africa.

[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

The second section of the show brings together antiques traced back to the Tigris-Euphrates civilization and ancient India, showing frequent communication between the East and the West.

The last section features Hirayama’s paintings done when he visited Dunhuang from the 1970s onward.

[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

[Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]