National Museum of Asian Art » Lectures & Discussions

Get an exclusive tour of Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean with curator Emma Natalya Stein and view the largest bronze ever cast in Southeast Asia. Before the tour, enjoy a dance offering by Simi Mohanty, a Northern Virginia–based practitioner of Odissi for over fifteen years. Rooted in India’s temple traditions, Odissi offers a devotional vocabulary long associated with Vishnu.

Crafted one thousand years ago in the city of Angkor, this sculpture embodies the Hindu god Vishnu dreaming the universe into existence. Delve into the bronze’s original island-like temple and water’s cultural importance. Meet the present-day Cambodian community and explore the landscape in the exclusive accompanying film.

Please meet at gallery 22 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Composite image: (top) Vishnu Reclining on the Serpent Ananta (Endless One); Cambodia, Siem Reap province, second half of 11th century; bronze, mercury gilding; National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh; Photo by Mario Ciampi, ©️ Guicciardini & Magni Architetti / (bottom) Still from the short film Awkun; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Film by praCh Ly

In this tour exploring Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms, curator Debra Diamond focuses on the paintings' representations of men and women. Get exclusive insights into the abstractions and identities expressed in these artworks.

Please meet at gallery 23 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Image: Kaccheli Ragini, from a Ragamala; India, Himachal Pradesh state, Bahu or Jammu, ca. 1710; opaque watercolor and gold on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection—funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art, S2018.1.11

Join curator Debra Diamond and discover how Pahari painters portrayed the Hindu god Krishna in this tour exploring Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms. These masters of romance depicted Krishna as not only transcendent and heroic but also beloved and playful.

Please meet at gallery 23 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Image: Attributed to the Master of the Court of Mankot; Krishna Fluting, folio from a Dasavatar series; India, Uttarakhand state, Mankot, ca. 1730; opaque watercolor and gold on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection—funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art, S20a18.1.60

Join curator Debra Diamond and explore Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms as she discusses the role of improvisation and the expressive moods of Indian classical music in Pahari painting.

Please meet at gallery 23 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Image: Hemla Ragaputra, folio from a Ragamala series; India, Himachal Pradesh state, Chamba or Bilaspur, ca. 1700; painting; opaque watercolor and gold on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Purchase and partial gift from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection—funds provided by the Friends of the National Museum of Asian Art, S2018.1.67

In this tour exploring Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms, curator Debra Diamond highlights standout favorites from the exhibition and shares new insights into Pahari paintings from India’s Himalayan kingdoms.

Please meet at gallery 23 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Image: Attributed to an artist from the generation (ca. 1725–ca. 1785) after Nainsukh and Manaku; Krishna and His Family Admire a Solar Eclipse, from a Bhagavata Purana (Ancient Tales of the Lord), canto 10.82; India, Himachal Pradesh state, Kangra, 1775–80; opaque watercolor on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase from the Catherine and Ralph Benkaim Collection—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F2017.13.5

Join curator Diana Greenwold for unique insight into our new exhibition A Museum in the Making, which tells the story of a bold experiment in art and design that still shapes our galleries today. Artists, architects, and designers transformed museum founder Charles Lang Freer’s Detroit home to display art in new ways. Learn how Freer’s collaborators harmonized frames, lighting, walls, windows, and even furniture to showcase masterpieces of American and Asian art.

Please meet at gallery 8 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Image: Dwight William Tryon (1849–1925); Winter; United States, 1893; oil on canvas; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1893.17a-b

Join curator Jan Stuart for an exclusive tour of Chinese calligraphy, porcelains, and paintings, including scrolls illuminating the steps of silk cultivation and tilling rice.

Please meet at gallery 13 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Image: Attributed to Cheng Qi (傳)程棨 (act. mid- to late 13th century); Silk Weaving after Lou Shou 摹樓璹〈蠶織圖; China, mid- to late 13th century; ink and color on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1954.20

Get an exclusive tour of Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean with curator Emma Natalya Stein and view the largest bronze ever cast in Southeast Asia. Crafted one thousand years ago in the city of Angkor, this sculpture embodies the Hindu god Vishnu dreaming the universe into existence. Delve into the bronze’s original island-like temple and water’s cultural importance. Meet the present-day Cambodian community and explore the landscape in the exclusive accompanying film.

Please meet at gallery 22 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance.

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Image: Composite image: (top) Vishnu Reclining on the Serpent Ananta (Endless One); Cambodia, Siem Reap province, second half of 11th century; bronze, mercury gilding; National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh; Photograph by Mario Ciampi, ©️ Guicciardini & Magni Architetti / (bottom) Still from the short film Awkun; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Film by praCh Ly