Jointly led by Jos Takema, Project Manager of the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands and Yun Hye Chung of the National Museum of Korea, the VCM now boasts 135 member museums from 35 countries and 183 new masterpieces for a total of 2,514 available online.
In December, the VCM introduced a new highlight on the Silk Road. A dedicated Silk Road button on the VCM Search for Masterpiec es page provides instant access to relevant masterpieces. Pictured is a folio from an 8th century large Quran from the collection of the Asian Civilisations Museum (copyright Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore), which turned up during the search.
According to the VCM, the museum acquired this folio in 1999. It is likely from a monumental Quran in Tashkent, Uzbekistan attributed to the Caliph Uthman (reign 644 to 656) and might have been carried along the Silk Route. The item has been carbon-dated, and there is a 68% probability of a date between 640 and 705 and 95% probability of a date between 595 and 855.
The VCM website development is sponsored by NAVER, Korea's top search portal. The VCM also began new social media initiatives on Facebook and Instagram this year.
The VCM was originally a project of ASEMUS - the Asia Europe Museum Network. It features online versions of masterpieces of Asian origin from the collections of contributing museums to promote mutual understanding and appreciation between peoples of various and different cultures. Each museum contributes a selection of 25 masterpieces from their own collections.