Museums, Galleries, and Auction Houses Collaborate on Spring Asia Week - New York, March 20-28, 2010
New York, January 13, 2010 — Just two weeks after announcing its role as an organizer of Asia Week 2010, Asia Society is pleased to announce that over 30 of New York's major museums, art galleries and auction houses will be participating in the city's largest and most diverse series of cultural events focusing on Asian art during Asia Week New York, March 20-28, 2010. City-wide programming during the week will encompass public lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions, and receptions that promote understanding and appreciation of Asian art. The endeavor aims to look at new developments and trends in Asian art, picking up where the Haughton International Asian Art Fair, previously the center of the week, left off (the IAAF was discontinued for spring 2009 and 2010).
"Asia Week brings together every major New York institution that has a significant interest in Asian art, organizing and formalizing the myriad activities relating to Asian art that occur throughout New York in spring," says Asia Society Museum Director Melissa Chiu. "It has been extremely gratifying to see how museums, galleries and the auction houses have come together in the wake of the Haughton Fair to present a week of substantive and educational programming and activities highlighting art from India, China, Japan, Korea, the Himalayas and Southeast Asia."
Details about Asia Week events will be available online at www.asiaweeknewyork.org. A full-color print guide to Asia Week with a map, calendar of select events, public programs and exhibitions at participating galleries, specialty dealers and museums will be created.
Asia Society will host a special benefit to celebrate the beginning of Asia Week on the evening of Monday, March 22, 2010. Celebration of Asia Week: AllThingsArtASIA begins with a cocktail reception featuring top Asian fashion designers and artisans showcasing their latest lines, music and a special viewing of the planned major loan exhibitions Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea and Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art. Festivities continue at 583 Park Avenue with an elegant, celebrity chef-designed dinner, auction and dance party. Details about the event are available at AsiaSociety.org/specialevents.
Asia Week New York 2010 Participants
Participating museums include the Brooklyn Museum, China Institute, Japan Society, Korea Society, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Rubin Museum of Art, and Tibet House U.S., amongst others. Participating dealers and galleries include Carole Davenport; Eskenazi, Ltd.; John Eskenazi, Ltd.; MD Flacks; Flying Cranes Antiques, Ltd; Sebastian Izzard; Kang Collection; J.J. Lally & Co.; London Gallery, Ltd; Leighton R. Longhi; Helena Markus; Mika Gallery; Sydney L. Moss Ltd.; Orientations Gallery; Ronin Gallery; Erik Thomsen LLC Asian Art; Cynthia Volk Asian Art; Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art; Koichi Yanagi Oriental Fine Art; Joe-Hynn Yang and many others. The week coincides with sales of Asian art at the auction houses. Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams and Doyle New York will participate and host special events during Asia Week. Arts of Pacific Asia is a collaborating partner.
On view at Asia Society Museum during Asia Week New York
The following exhibitions will be on view at Asia Society during Asia Week. Like other participating museums, Asia Society will hold special tours during Asia Week.
Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea
February 2–May 2, 2010
Organized by Asia Society, New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
This remarkable exhibition brings together more than one hundred extraordinary objects from ten Vietnamese museums. Arts of Ancient Viet Nam illuminates the country’s long history as a center of trade and highlights its importance in the cultural development of Southeast Asia. Objects range from early burial goods and large bronze ritual drums to gold jewelry with precious stones, Hindu and Buddhist stone sculptures, and beautifully decorated ceramics. A full-color catalogue accompanies the exhibition.
Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art
March 16–June 20, 2010
Buddhist pilgrimage has been a source of inspiration to artists across Asia. This exhibition presents the first comprehensive look at how these pilgrimage traditions are related to the development of Asian art. Through more than 90 sacred objects, textiles, sculpture and paintings, Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art explores the artistic production inspired by sacred sites and the practice of Buddhist pilgrimage in Asia. A full-color catalogue accompanies the exhibition.
About Asia Society Museum
Asia Society Museum organizes groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary and traditional Asian art, as well as exhibitions showcasing masterpieces from its permanent collection, the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection. Long-known to Asian art specialists and enthusiasts, the Rockefeller Collection contains objects from cultures ranging from Pakistan to Japan and Java, from 1000 BCE to the nineteenth century, with strengths in Chinese ceramics of the Song and Ming periods, Chola-period Indian bronzes and Southeast Asian sculptures.
Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonprofit nonpartisan educational institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C. Through exhibitions and related public programs, Asia Society provides a forum for the issues and viewpoints reflected in both traditional and contemporary Asian art.
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Contact: Elaine Merguerian, 212-327-9271 / [email protected]