Silk Road journey's big one-man show

For the past 15 years, Deke Erh has been on the road, or to be exact, on the Silk Road. It's a one-man show, an odyssey that has taken in history, culture, relics and people.

Now the Shanghai-based photographer's "One Man's Silk Road — Deke Erh's Visual Documenta" unveils the massive project that includes the photos that he captured, the objects he collected and the film he shot during his journey.

Nearly 10,000 objects are now showcased in four exhibition halls at the China Art Museum, covering an area of 6,000 square meters.

"In the eyes of some, this is almost a mission impossible," says Erh. "But I have been so fascinated by the subject and I am glad that finally I made it. This is the Silk Road where I have been, and this is the Silk Road in my eyes."

Before the Silk Road project, Erh was already well-known for documenting Shanghai's history and tumultuous changes. His name is associated with old Shanghai, old villas and lanes, Art Deco buildings and vanishing structures and artifacts.

Erh published a series of photo books such as "A Last Look — Western Architecture in Old Shanghai (1990)" and "Old Villas in Shanghai."

"Today when people are looking ahead, I turn away and look back and dive into history," he says.

As many people were enthusiastically throwing away old things and embracing new concepts in the 1980s when China's reform and opening up began, Erh was sensitive to the value of history and artifacts, whether an old house facing demolition or a mundane item such as a mug.

But recording the vicissitudes of the city was not enough to quench a curiosity that went beyond Shanghai. When the subject of the Silk Road first flashed on Erh's mind, his first response was to "find" a famed archeologist who had been there long before and capture some landscapes on the road.