The National Museums in Berlin owns the most important collection of artworks from Central Asia in the world. For this we mainly have to thank the inquiring mind of researcher and indologist Albert Grünwedel (1876-1935). Grünwedel led the first Turfan expedition in 1902 and was director of the Department of Indian Art at the Museum of European Ethnology in Berlin.

Albert Grünwedel's discoveries included wall paintings, clay sculptures, stone and wooden artefacts, textiles, metal objects and manuscripts, some of which were transported back to Berlin. The various publications of the results of his research into the art history and archaeology of this region were pivotal in introducing the Buddhist high culture of Central Asia to Germany and even to the rest of Europe.

The exhibition explores the 100-year history of these valuable Buddhist wall paintings in the context of the museum and the German archaeological expeditions and highlights groundbreaking new strategies that have been developed to preserve the collection.