In mid summer 2002 on The Mall in Washington DC the Smithsonian Institution organized what remains to this day the largest, most wide ranging festival ever celebrated anywhere on the general topic of "The Silk Road." Supported by millions of dollars in combined federal and private funding, the event gave particular but not exclusive attention to the cultures of Central Asia, which after the events of September 11, 2001 had resumed its historic standing as a venue of geopolitical conflict.

Public interest was thus at an all-time high, but apart from the considerable publicity given to combined musical performances involving Yo-Yo Ma, very little of the rich cultural performance and artistic output of the festival was recorded for posterity by the Smithsonian. This tragic oversight may have reflected the nature of the topmost politically appointed leadership of the Smithsonian at the time, which as an institution is nevertheless is to be commended for organizing the festival.