At Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), Sacred Caves: Dunhuang, Buddhism, and the Silk Road brings the scale of the Mogao Caves together with objects that tell a wider story of travel, Buddhist devotion and cultural exchange. The exhibition runs from 25 September 2026 to 7 March 2027.
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Step inside four Mogao Cave reproductions
The centrepiece is four life-size reproductions of Mogao Cave interiors. Visitors can experience mural-covered spaces and monumental Buddhist sculpture at a scale that photographs cannot convey; a 13-metre reclining Buddha is among the highlights. These are reconstructions, not sections removed from the caves in China.
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See Dunhuang beyond the caves
Original paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, textiles and devotional objects sit alongside the reproduced spaces. Read through the exhibition’s City–Devotion–People themes, they connect the art to Dunhuang’s place on the Silk Road, the Buddhist practices behind the caves, and the people who made and used these works. ACM describes the Mogao Caves as a record of life spanning the fourth to the 14th centuries.
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That pairing is the point of the show: the caves convey the scale of devotion, while the objects help explain more than 1,000 years of artistic and cultural exchange.
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Listen, collect colours and follow the stamps
An original soundscape adds another way into the exhibition’s cross-cultural setting. Visitors can also collect colours with a digital paintbrush and use in-gallery stamping stations. ACM’s activity guide links the colours to the mineral-based paints used by Dunhuang artists.
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The Nine-Coloured Deer stamp trail has six stamps inside the exhibition; collecting them reveals an illustration to take home. ACM also lists additional stamp stations beyond the museum, including at the Bank of China. The wider programme includes an outdoor apsara installation, though the available information does not establish its precise form or location.
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Plan your visit
Sacred Caves is at ACM, 1 Empress Place, Singapore, through 7 March 2027. The museum lists opening hours of 10am–7pm daily, extended to 9pm on Fridays, and says an all-access ticket is required. Check ACM’s admissions information for the ticket category that applies to you.
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