Joanna Lumley has begun her epic adventure along the Silk Road: thousands of miles of travel through eight countries. And she chose our Tessitura as a starting point to discover how the travels of Venetian hero Marco Polo and Silk Road merchants influenced the growth of Venice, as this video tells.
A traveler fascinated by the charm of Venetian fabrics
Joanna Lumley is a British actress, author and activist, who in the 70s became famous thanks to TV series such as “The Avengers” and who later was also a Bond Girl in one of the series “Agent 007”. Since 2010 she has been working with the British television channel ITV for which she has written and produced some programs that see her as the protagonist of documentaries around the world.
In her most recent series, titled “Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure” and which is being broadcast at this time, she revisits in a modern key those that were the main stops on the route that in ancient times was the busiest commercial network in the world and that connected China to the Mediterranean.
Joanna was enthusiastic to see our fabrics and the ancient looms, and to understand the great work that allows to transform silk yarns, originally arrived in Venice from China, in magnificent fabrics that the nobles wore and with which they decorated their palaces back to Marco Polo days. It was a great surprise to learn that once there were thousands of silk workers in Venice, while today we are the only ones left to preserve the knowledge of this ancient art, which produces not only decorative fabrics and accessories for furniture, but also beautiful bags… well, maybe she got a little excited to want to buy five, don’t you think?
Photo Credits: ITV
