International Association for the Study of Silk Road Textiles

The International Association for the Study of Silk Road Textiles (IASSRT) was founded in 2015 to promote and develop the study of textiles around the world, in particular textiles of the Silk Road. Presidency of IASSRT changes annually, with the incumbent director responsible for organising the next annual conference.

Aims
In October 2015, the International Association for the Study of Silk Road Textiles (IASSRT) was founded in Hangzhou for the purpose to connect the research institutions along the Silk Road and other related institutions (including universities, museums, libraries, archaeological institutions, research institutions, and research groups, etc.) for the cooperation in collaborative researches and sharing resources.

Conferences
IASSRT conferences are held annually, the aim being to bring researchers together on a regular basis, and to visit collections in the location of the conference.
 * 1st annual conference, Oct 2016: "Silks from the Silk Road:Origin, Transmission and Exchange" at the China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou (China)
 * 2nd annual conference, Nov 2017: "Dialogue with Silk between Europe and Asia: History, Technology and Art", at Musee Gadagne, Lyon (France)
 * 3rd annual conference, Nov 2018: "Silk Road Textiles: Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage" in Korea National University of Cultural Heritage
 * 4th annual conference, Oct 2019: "Textiles as a historical source" in Kislovodsk, Russia
 * 5th annual conference, 15-16 Nov 2021: "Textiles on the Silk Roads: from Medieval to Industrial Periods" in Trento, Italy
 * 6th conference, 20-21 Oct 2022: "Silk Road Textiles under the Microscope" - online conference and tours, hosted in Hangzhou, Beijing, Bangkok and New York
 * 7th conference, 15-18 Oct 2023: "Reconnections along the Silk Road: Restoring and Reconstructing Textiles from Afar" - at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, UEA, Norwich, UK

Silk Road Week
In 2019, IASSRT and the Committee of Silk Road Museums of ICOM China proposed that an annual "Silk Road Week" be held to mark the anniversary of the Silk Road - from Chang'an to the Tianshan Corridor - becoming a World Heritage location on the UNESCO list on 22 June 2014. The first Silk Road Week will be 19-26 June 2020.