About

Mission of Organization: “The Silk Road is more than just a conduit along which religions hitched rides . . .It constituted a formative and transformative rite of passage. No religion emerges unchanged at the end of that arduous journey." – Richard C. Foltz

The Silk Road originated as a series of intersecting caravan trails in southwestern China that traversed Central Asia, crossed the lowlands of Mesopotamia onward to Jerusalem and the Mediterranean, and ultimately arrived in Rome. Along these ancient paths, merchants laden with silk from China, spices from India and furs from the steppes of Kazakhstan, exchanged goods and materials as well as their cultures and traditions. "

The mission of the Peace Caravan Project is fighting prejudice through education, cultural awareness and exchange. The project’s goal addresses the global need for openness and cultural exchange and to help gain the mutual respect and cooperation necessary for World Peace. By documenting people in their traditional ways of life, the project reminds us that in our differences that we share similar loves, hopes and dreams. Through the educational presentations led by Mossman, The Peace Caravan Project endeavors to inform and inspire others through cultural understanding, preservation, tolerance and acceptance.

Violence and modernization in the Silk Road regions threaten the indigenous ways of life. Cultures are disappearing as people become more homogeneous in the 21st century. It is important to preserve what makes each unique. The project has proven, by educating through photography, film, and first hand accounts from the regions, readers find a new appreciation for the religious and cultural heritages of these nations and a new way to peace reveals itself.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised and educated in Canada, Marla Mossman is an international Photographer, Film Maker, Artist and Poet who has traveled extensively documenting the human condition for over 20 years. Avidly interested in promoting arts and education, she co-established non-profit art organizations—MMARTS in London and Art Soup in Santa Barbara, California—both of which developed permanent exhibition spaces for local artists. She is the co-founder of ImagineAsia, a non- profit organization whose mission is to provide education and healthcare to rural Asian communities. Marla has been to the Silk Road region eight times. Most recently departed Cairo to Uganda and the source of the Nile. Previously on a journey through the Middle East she traveled solo, from Istanbul, Turkey overland through Syria and Jordan to Jerusalem, Israel documenting the Mediterranean terminus of the ancient trade route and desert origins of the three great religions.  

In 2005 she traveled to Afghanistan working with the Ministers from the Department of Transportation and the Department of Education in Kabul and Bamiyan Province. She was the first foreigner and woman to visit Waras a remote part of Central Afghanistan on horseback, with donkey and mules.
On an earlier trip to Northern India, Marla hiked and backpacked to an altitude of 18,000 ft in the Himalayas to obtain her photographs. She has traveled extensively in Europe and the UK, Peru, Turkey, Thailand, Nepal and Indonesia, and backpacked not only the Himalayas, but also the Inca Trail and the High Sierras. Marla Mossman currently resides in New York City.