On the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo on 8 January 2024, the Museum of Oriental Art dedicates an exhibition to the Miao population of China, supported by the Veneto Regional Museums Directorate, with the patronage of the Confucius Institute of Venice and of the Italian Geographical Society.

The Miao best express their artisan skills in the creation of fabrics and embroidery, where they apply ancient techniques. Through the decorative motifs, the long work of collecting and cultivating the necessary raw materials, the laborious procedures of weaving, sizing, pleating and garment manufacturing, an alternative life system is revealed, linked to animistic beliefs and which has survived over time in a fragile balance, today constantly threatened by the expansion of tourism.

Thanks to the generous loan of Franco Passarello, tireless collector of clothes from all over the world, and the Italian Geographical Society, who sent some very precious illustrated albums that the emperors of the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) had commissioned to get to know the populations of the territories more distant than the empire, it is possible to make the salient features of a complex and multifaceted culture known to the wider public, which over the centuries has proudly maintained its identity.