Saatchi's Silk Road leads to Lille

In a European first, a group exhibition from the Saatchi Collection is currently on show outside the UK. Amassed by advertising magnate Charles Saatchi, the collection is currently housed at the Saatchi Gallery, located off the King's Road in London. The Gallery's goal is to 'draw people's attentions to someone who might be tomorrow's Damien Hirst', with a focus on new art that would be unlikely to make it into the bigger public institutions.

Inspired by the ancient trade routes between Asia and Europe, The Silk Road, on view at La Tri Postal in Lille, focuses on the three main regions along the route: China, India and the Middle East - regions whose traditional role as a cultural hub is today reaffirmed in a contemporary art output that is of increasing interest to the global art scene.

The exhibition offers and extensive view of contemporary artwork of these regions, and features a number of key pieces from the collection including works from Shadi Ghadirian's Like Everyday series and Kadar Attia's eerie Ghost installation.

In conjunction with the exhibition parts of Lille will be 'tuning into UK time'. Visitors will be able to walk from 'Oxford Circus' the 'King's Road', encouraged to wear bowler hats or punk hairstyles, to try out London fashions and to sample fish and chips. 

Follow the link to the Saatchi Gallery website for highlights from The Silk Road