Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art

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Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art Sharing the arts and cultures of Asia since 1923. Open daily. Admission always free. Moongate Cafe now open.

From Chinese art to the arts of the Islamic world, from Biblical manuscripts to Southeast Asian art, from the ancient Near East to the United States—our collections speak to the many meanings of Asia and its relationship to the rest of the world. COMMENT POLICY
Please feel free to share thoughts about our posts, ask us questions, or tell us about your visit. We hope you’ll contribute to this interactive forum and to our ongoing conversation about the work we do to further the Smithsonian's mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. While on-topic discussion is encouraged, we ask that you express yourself in a civil manner and treat other users with respect. The Smithsonian also monitors and may remove posts consistent with its terms of use, as described at https://www.si.edu/termsofuse

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The National Museum of Asian Art staff does not identify, authenticate, or appraise objects or works of art that do not belong to the museum; nor do they offer advice about the care and conservation of objects. Staff members cannot make statements regarding authenticity or monetary value. The curators’ primary responsibility is to research, publish, and exhibit the collections that belong to the museum.

Join our curator October 17 for a tour of "Melted Into the Sun" to get an exclusive look at this exhibition of film and ...
10/12/2026

Join our curator October 17 for a tour of "Melted Into the Sun" to get an exclusive look at this exhibition of film and installation artist Saodat Ismailova’s work, grounded in Central Asia’s complex histories and ancient myths.

Learn more and register for free here: https://s.si.edu/470HaRu

Image: Saodat Ismailova (b. 1981); Still from Melted into the Sun; 2024; single-channel video with sound; 35 minutes; Courtesy . Commissioned by Fondazione In Between Art Film and Batalha Centro de Cinema Porto

10/05/2026

How's our museum connected to the ancient city of Palmyra? To answer that, just look up!

Images:

The ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tedmor, in the desart, Wood, Robert; Fournier, le jeune; Major, Thomas; Müller, J. S.; Müller, T. M. Jr; Borra, Giovanni Battista [Robert Wood], 1753, page 83

Portrait of Charles Adams Platt, George Collins Cox, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, PG.76.06P4.01

Join the Freer Research Center on October 6 for a conversation with artist Saodat Ismailova and social historian Mariann...
10/02/2026

Join the Freer Research Center on October 6 for a conversation with artist Saodat Ismailova and social historian Marianne Kamp, as they reflect on how memory, oral history, and archives illuminate Central Asia's political, social, and environmental changes.

Learn more and register here: https://s.si.edu/4z6QYFt

Image: Saodat Ismailova; Still from Her Right; 2020–2026; single-channel video, no sound, projected on horsehair, 14 minutes; Courtesy , Commissioned by Video Jam, UK

09/30/2026

What is this adorable yet imposing feline trying to tell us?

Find out for yourself in special exhibition, “From the Musée du Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art”, now on view Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in galleries 23-24. https://s.si.edu/4hA9nVI

Que cherche à nous dire cet adorable mais imposant félin ?

Venez le découvrir dans l’exposition « From the Musée du Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art », présentée actuellement au Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art dans les salles 23-24. https://s.si.edu/4hA9nVI

Images:

Lion of Monzón, Spain, probably Cordoba, Umayyad and Taifa periods, ca. 975–1100; Cast bronze engraved; Former collections of Mariano Fortuny y Marsal, E. Piot, and L. Stern; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, OA 7883; © GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Mathieu Rabeau

Lion de Monzón, Espagne, probablement Cordoue, vers 975–1100, bronze moulé, décor gravé. Anc. Coll. M. Fortuny y Marsal, E. Piot, puis L. Stern. Paris, musée du Louvre, département des arts de l’Islam, OA 7883; © GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Mathieu Rabeau

ID #1973.107: David Roberts, Court of the Lions, 1832–1833?; Watercolor on wove paper. The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago; Bequest of Joseph Halle Schaffner in memory of his beloved mother, Sara H. Schaffner (1973.107); Photograph ©2026 courtesy of The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago.

La Ilustración española y americana, Año XIX Suplemento Número 10 Marzo 1875 / Museo Nacional del Prado

Join us in the galleries every week for tours of our newest exhibition, From the Louvre. Discover masterpieces of Islami...
09/29/2026

Join us in the galleries every week for tours of our newest exhibition, From the Louvre. Discover masterpieces of Islamic art from Spain to India created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries.

Find the full schedule of tours here: https://s.si.edu/4hjKCMQ

09/28/2026

Join us at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art for a special performance by one of Kazakhstan’s premier contemporary ethno-folklore groups!

Formed in 2013 in Almaty by PhD and Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Zhamenkeyev, HasSak ethno-folk ensemble is one of Kazakhstan’s premier contemporary ethno-folklore groups. The ensemble features four highly skilled multi-instrumentalists—Yerzhan Zhamenkeyev, Darkhan Alimgazy, Askat Sagat, and Aray Kanatbek—who master over thirty traditional Kazakh instruments.

HasSak is currently participating in Heritage in Motion, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the nonprofit organization Music Unbound. The project provides professional development and networking opportunities to culture bearers and intangible cultural heritage practitioners in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Tucson, Arizona, leading up to a program at the 2027 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Learn more and reserve your seat: https://s.si.edu/4jnve3h

📸: A participant plays the qobyz, a traditional Kazakh instrument, at the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival's "Soul of Tengri" program. Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Once forgotten but now celebrated as one of the great achievements of world potters, Goryeo celadons are known for their...
09/28/2026

Once forgotten but now celebrated as one of the great achievements of world potters, Goryeo celadons are known for their distinct, translucent gray-green glaze.

Explore our collection online or in person, in ongoing exhibition, "Rediscovering Korea’s Past"! https://s.si.edu/4e5aRmV

How does art communicate how we imagine the supernatural? Join us for this virtual tour, where you’ll meet scary ghosts,...
09/24/2026

How does art communicate how we imagine the supernatural?

Join us for this virtual tour, where you’ll meet scary ghosts, powerful demons, and comical monsters in works of art from Japan.

Learn more and register here: https://s.si.edu/43X7gT7

Tsukioka Yosh*toshi 月岡芳年 (1839–1892); A Ghost Jizō Startles a Near-sighted Old Man at Asajigahara from the series Crazy Pictures of Famous Places in Tōkyō (Tōkyō kaika kyōga meishō); Japan, 1881; print; ink and color on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, The Pearl and Seymour Moskowitz Collection, S2021.5.363

Our West Building (Freer Gallery of Art) will be closed to the public September 24 until early afternoon.We’ll share an ...
09/23/2026

Our West Building (Freer Gallery of Art) will be closed to the public September 24 until early afternoon.

We’ll share an update as soon as this section of the museum reopens. We look forward to welcoming you.

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