Grab your preferred device, curl up on the couch, and embark on an illuminating tour through different museum galleries. With YouTube as your portal, and a specialist to guide you, you’ll have close-up encounters with works from our world-famous collection, revisit recent exhibitions, and preview new contemporary installations.
Focusing on a single subject at a time, each 20-minute tour is led by an expert who shares insights into millennia of craft and creativity and reveals the stories behind the art.
Costly to produce and ingeniously engineered, bronze vessels in ancient China symbolized power: military, cultural, and even spiritual. Learn more about the museum’s celebrated collection of bronzes with aristocratic connections, which recorded historical events and battles, held offerings for ancestors, and were a source of wealth and status for centuries. Watch Now
Swaying bodies, palms extended elegantly, chins nodding to the beat of an unheard rhythm: immortal, sacred movement defines sculpture across Southern Asia and the Himalayas. From larger-than-life temple reliefs to bronzes created for ceremonial parades, uncover how, for millennia, artists have shown us the vital connections between sculpture, life, and the spirit. Watch Now
Why have royal collectors sought Korean ceramics for centuries? What makes a celadon from Korea so desirable? Why do the delicate hues and splendid — but never extravagant — forms of Korean clay art continue to inspire artists and audiences the world over? Find out by exploring the essence, craft, and history of the museum’s unique holdings of Korean ceramics. Watch Now
Join the conversation! The Asian Art Museum’s collaborations with local and international artists, including Chanel Miller, are the talk of the town. Get a sneak peek at soaring installations and new gallery-scaled multimedia sculptures, and find out how the museum’s recent expansion has created a platform for artistic voices addressing some of today’s most pressing issues: visibility, inclusion, healing, togetherness, and connection. Watch Now
The museum’s light-filled loggia is home to some of its most exquisite ceramics, representing a thousand years of Chinese imperial patronage. Trace how each dynasty built on and refined what came before, how new technologies — including explosively colored glazes — gave rise to now-familiar patterns, and get up close with some of the world’s rarest porcelains. Watch Now
Haunting faces of shamans, coiled ropes of clay piled into vessels that flare with animal faces or open with saw-toothed grins: Japan’s early ceramic tradition is among the very oldest in the world, dating back thousands of years. Unearth how naturalistic influences, migration and the mingling of cultures, and sophisticated new technologies shaped these flamboyant, eccentric artworks. Watch Now
Pocket-sized artworks never fail to fascinate. Explore the enduring appeal of intricately carved netsuke (mini-sculptures in ivory, horn, and bone), delicately inlaid inro (small boxes designed to hang from a kimono belt), and sophisticated sword fittings from Japan. Marvel at tiny precious-stone snuff bottles from China, fashioned into the shapes of favorite foods, and lustrous jades from across Chinese history. Watch Now
With its elaborate braiding techniques and unique methods of cutting, curing, and twisting, all passed down from one “master” to the next across generations, Japanese bamboo is revered for its expressive possibilities. In the 21st century, the practice of bamboo art remains diverse, with a new generation of women and men exploring the technical and aesthetic qualities of bamboo. Learn what elevates the most functional forms — more than mere baskets — to the realm of drama and dreams. Watch Now
How does the celebrated visual tradition of the Himalayas translate spiritual practice into resplendent art form? The museum’s collection of ancient and contemporary Himalayan art — one of the country’s most extraordinary — offers answers. Journey across multiple cosmic dimensions, ponder the supreme interconnection of birth and death, and find out how to reshape reality through thought alone.
A dazzling array of kris (daggers) from across the Indonesian archipelago have ignited the imaginations of museumgoers for decades. No two blades are the same: shapes and patterns convey regional and cultural diversity. Whether a family heirloom, ritual talisman, or symbol of heroic achievement, each of these distinctive objects has a fascinating story to tell. Watch Now
From the oldest dated Chinese Buddha, still glittering with gold, to a larger-than-life wooden bodhisattva still serene after centuries, the museum’s unparalleled collection traces the introduction and evolution of Buddhism across China. Follow this historical path with magnificent artworks: sometimes minimalist, sometimes lavish, and always magnetic. Watch Now
