This
hCalendar-compliant page
is optimized for search engines. View this calendar as published at
asia.si.edu.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, September 17, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, September 17, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, September 17, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tour | Art & Architecture
Gallery Talks & Tours
Explore the architecture of the National Mall’s first art museum on this tour of the National Museum of Asian Art's Freer Gallery. Look closely at the West Building’s plaza, lobby, and inner courtyard while discovering the Italian architectural influences and design details of this US National Historic Landmark designed by the famed turn-of-the-century architect Charles Platt.
Please meet at the West Building plaza for the tour. During rainy weather, meet at the West Building information desk. Image credit: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Jennifer Berry.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Plaza. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 18, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 18, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image: Katsushika Hokusai / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.269.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, September 18, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 18, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 18, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Conservation Cart Talk | What Can Light Reveal About Art?
Lectures & Discussions
Did you know you can use X-rays to study art? Join conservation scientist Matthew Clarke to discover how scientists use X-ray, infrared, and other forms of light to view works of art from a different perspective. See examples from Matthew’s research and learn how light-based tools help researchers uncover information not visible to the eye. Image: X-ray fluorescence reveals the areas (right) where gold appears in a fourteenth-century Persian manuscript.
Darab Sleeping in the Ruined Vault, folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi (d. 1020) (detail); Iran, Tabriz, ca. 1330–1340; opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1930.78.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Entrance to Gallery 1. Cost: Free. Register in advance (optional). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1998375731608?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 18, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Documentary Screening: James McNeill Whistler
Films
US Premiere!
Watch the Trailer
Join producer Phil Grabsky and our curator Diana Greenwold for a discussion after the screening.
Get ready for our upcoming Whistler exhibition with the US premiere of this documentary on painter James McNeill Whistler, the latest Exhibition On Screen production.
In an era of great change and great beauty emerged the character of James McNeill Whistler. Considered by some to be one of the great innovators of nineteenth-century art, he was a contemporary of the Impressionists, much admired by Van Gogh and Manet. Boldly experimental and famously witty, Whistler disrupted the strict conventions of Victorian society in pursuit of a new cult of beauty, creating “art for art’s sake” and earning himself a place in the history of great art. He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings “arrangements,“ “harmonies,“ and “nocturnes,“ emphasizing the importance of tonal harmony in his work. His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No.…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/film-screening-james-macneill-whistler-tickets-1997988167393?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true. Categories: Films. After Five. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Friday, September 18, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
Chuseok Family Festival
Kids and Family
Celebrate Chuseok, Korea’s beloved harvest festival, with the museum! Learn about both past and current traditions of one of the biggest holidays in Korea. Enjoy delicious food, a curated art and vendor market, family activities, and dynamic performances, including a special performance by Insun Park & Generals!
This year’s festival highlights the fascinating world of Korea’s traditional masks (Tal 탈). Learn about the unique stories and characters represented by a variety of masks and explore a collection of mask displays. Decorate your own colorful hanji (traditional Korean paper) mask, try on different masks, and capture memories in the photo booth. Enjoy special mask-themed giveaways while experiencing one of Korea’s most distinctive cultural traditions. Plus, experience a groundbreaking fusion of rock, Korean traditional music, and mask dance rhythms with Insun Park & Generals, masters of the Gangnyeong Mask Dance!
Register in advance to make sure you get the best experience. Some activities have a…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Event Location: National Museum of Asian Art, Plaza. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1993540289671?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Celebrations. Kids & Families. Performances. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. ASL-interpreted program.
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM.
Family Fun | Chuseok
Kids and Family
Bring the kids to celebrate Chuseok, the Korean harvest festival! Enjoy a scavenger hunt in the Peacock Room and the Korean Art gallery. Story time in the courtyard will feature folk and fairy tales from Korea. Have fun with pattern puzzles in the Peacock Room and objects from our Hands-On collection!
No reservation required.
The National Museum of Asian Art is grateful for the partnership of our docents. They generously contribute their energy and creativity to our museum-wide festivals and make Family Fun activities happen. Image credit: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Sonya Pencheva.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Courtyard, Gallery 12, Gallery 14. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Kids & Families. Celebrations. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. ASL-interpreted program.
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
CANCELLED - Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Conservation Cart Talk | Early Printing in Korea
Gallery Talks & Tours
Korea excelled in printing with movable metal type over seven hundred years ago, long before such printing was common in Europe. At the Chuseok Family Festival, join one of our conservation scientists for an introduction to its history in Korea. Examine reproductions of six-hundred-year-old movable metal type and hear about some of the current research on Korean printing at the museum. National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Department of Conservation and Scientific Research.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: North Corridor. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Celebrations. Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
CANCELLED - Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. CANCELLED - Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
CANCELLED - Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Highlights Tour in Mandarin 館藏精華導覽
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join free walk-in tours in Mandarin. These one-hour, docent-led tours feature highlights from the museum’s collections, including the famous Peacock Room and select masterpieces of Chinese art. Each docent chooses an artwork to present in their own way, so you can learn something new every time. No registration is needed.
國立亞洲藝術博物館邀請您參加免費普通話導覽（無需預約）
在一小時的導覽中，我們的講解員將帶您聚焦博物館中的精華，包括舉世聞名的孔雀廳和精選的中國藝術品。每場導覽都是獨一無二的，讓您每次對藝術品都能有不同的了解。 Image credit: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1915.103a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art) information desk 西樓（佛利爾美術館）咨詢臺. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 20, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, September 21, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, September 21, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | The Peacock Room at 150
Gallery Talks & Tours
Learn how a dining room built in London 150 years ago has become one of the most famous artworks in the United States today. This free guided tour closely examines American artist James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, inspired by Asian art and decorated with Chinese blue and white porcelain. James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903); Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (detail); United Kingdom, 1876–77; room installation, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, September 21, 2026, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM.
Sneak Peek | An Exclusive Glimpse into From the Louvre
Lectures & Discussions
Get a preview of our upcoming exhibition From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art in this online talk with co-curator Simon Rettig. For this show, an exceptional selection of twenty-six objects from the most famous Parisian museum crosses the Atlantic Ocean all together for the first time. Among them are many celebrated artworks, such as the basin known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis,” the so-called Lion of Monzón, the Iznik peacock plate, and one of the monumental portraits of Fath Ali Shah Qajar.
In this talk, Rettig offers an overview of From the Louvre and addresses the main themes explored in the exhibition, from the making of a masterpiece to the formation of the museum’s collections of Islamic art. Rettig also introduces the little-known relationship between the National Museum of Asian Art’s founder Charles Lang Freer and Louvre curator Gaston Migeon, which sparked a century-long collaboration between the two institutions.
This program is part of the monthly lunchtime series Sneak Peek,…
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ux2M6nJ5TPeQwEc8SmnUFw#/registration. Categories: Lectures & Discussions. Webcasts & Online. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:50 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image: Katsushika Hokusai / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.269.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | The Peacock Room at 150
Gallery Talks & Tours
Learn how a dining room built in London 150 years ago has become one of the most famous artworks in the United States today. This free guided tour closely examines American artist James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, inspired by Asian art and decorated with Chinese blue and white porcelain. James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903); Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (detail); United Kingdom, 1876–77; room installation, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | The Peacock Room at 150
Gallery Talks & Tours
Learn how a dining room built in London 150 years ago has become one of the most famous artworks in the United States today. This free guided tour closely examines American artist James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, inspired by Asian art and decorated with Chinese blue and white porcelain. James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903); Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (detail); United Kingdom, 1876–77; room installation, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, September 24, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, September 24, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, September 24, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tour | Art & Architecture
Gallery Talks & Tours
Explore the architecture of the National Mall’s first art museum on this tour of the National Museum of Asian Art's Freer Gallery. Look closely at the West Building’s plaza, lobby, and inner courtyard while discovering the Italian architectural influences and design details of this US National Historic Landmark designed by the famed turn-of-the-century architect Charles Platt.
Please meet at the West Building plaza for the tour. During rainy weather, meet at the West Building information desk. Image credit: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Jennifer Berry.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Plaza. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 25, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 25, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image: Katsushika Hokusai / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.269.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, September 25, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 25, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, September 25, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Art Guardians | Family Workshop: Chasing Rainbows
Why do some objects sparkle with rainbow colors? In this interactive workshop for children ages 6–11 and their caregivers, families investigate the science behind iridescence and discover how art conservators care for shimmering art. First, explore ceramics in A Museum in the Making—some with intentionally created iridescent surfaces and others with rainbow-like sheens that developed over hundreds of years. Then make your own art using materials that change appearance as they catch the light. National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Department of Conservation and Scientific Research.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1998376414651?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Workshops. Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. ASL-interpreted program.
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Art Guardians | Family Workshop: Chasing Rainbows
Why do some objects sparkle with rainbow colors? In this interactive workshop for children ages 6–11 and their caregivers, families investigate the science behind iridescence and discover how art conservators care for shimmering art. First, explore ceramics in A Museum in the Making—some with intentionally created iridescent surfaces and others with rainbow-like sheens that developed over hundreds of years. Then make your own art using materials that change appearance as they catch the light. National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Department of Conservation and Scientific Research.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1998376414651?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Workshops. Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. ASL-interpreted program.
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, September 26, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | Art & Architecture
Gallery Talks & Tours
Explore the architecture of the National Mall’s first art museum on this tour of the National Museum of Asian Art's Freer Gallery. Look closely at the West Building’s plaza, lobby, and inner courtyard while discovering the Italian architectural influences and design details of this US National Historic Landmark designed by the famed turn-of-the-century architect Charles Platt.
Please meet at the West Building plaza for the tour. During rainy weather, meet at the West Building information desk. Image credit: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Jennifer Berry.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Plaza. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 27, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 27, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 27, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. The Seoul Guardians
Films
Joie Chen, an Emmy-winning anchor and correspondent formerly of CNN, Al Jazeera, and CBS News will join directors Kim Jong-woo, Kim Shin-wan, and Cho Chul-young for an onstage conversation after the screening.
Watch the Trailer
On the night of December 3, 2024, then-president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in Korea. He banned all political activities and public assemblies and sent troops to the National Assembly building to seize control.
The Seoul Guardians plunges you into the political chaos of that night, with codirecting by three journalists who were there. Lawmakers rush to pass a bill ending martial law as ordinary citizens band together to hold off the soldiers sent to take the building. The winner of multiple film festival awards, this stirring documentary resonates with audiences around the world with its message that democracy is fragile and must be defended.
Directors: Kim Jong-woo, Kim Shin-wan, and Cho Chul-young. Country: Korea. Released: 2026. Length: 70 min. Format: DCP. Language:…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-seoul-guardians-tickets-1994888016759?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Films. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Captioning. Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Sunday, September 27, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Tours | Arts Across Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Enjoy a guided tour of our East Building and its range of exhibitions. These tours can feature art from any of the exhibitions currently on view, with works from cultures as diverse as ancient Iran to contemporary Japan.
Please meet at the East Building, B1 Lobby for the tour. Image: Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Arthur M. Sackler Collection, The Alice S. Kandell Collection, Photo by John Bigelow Taylor.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet at B1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 27, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, September 27, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, September 28, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, September 28, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. CANCELLED - Tour | The Peacock Room at 150
Gallery Talks & Tours
Learn how a dining room built in London 150 years ago has become one of the most famous artworks in the United States today. This free guided tour closely examines American artist James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, inspired by Asian art and decorated with Chinese blue and white porcelain. James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903); Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (detail); United Kingdom, 1876–77; room installation, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, September 28, 2026, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image: Katsushika Hokusai / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.269.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ymJH4SNfSjKwSlHROFxfyw. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. CANCELLED - Tour | The Peacock Room at 150
Gallery Talks & Tours
Learn how a dining room built in London 150 years ago has become one of the most famous artworks in the United States today. This free guided tour closely examines American artist James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, inspired by Asian art and decorated with Chinese blue and white porcelain. James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903); Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (detail); United Kingdom, 1876–77; room installation, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. CANCELLED - Tour | The Peacock Room at 150
Gallery Talks & Tours
Learn how a dining room built in London 150 years ago has become one of the most famous artworks in the United States today. This free guided tour closely examines American artist James McNeill Whistler’s famed Peacock Room, inspired by Asian art and decorated with Chinese blue and white porcelain. James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903); Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (detail); United Kingdom, 1876–77; room installation, oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.61.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 1, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 1, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 2, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, October 2, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Artful Movement | SEL Webinar for Students K–3
Kids and Family
Get ready to observe, chat, and move with art! In these webinars, students (grades K–3) will look carefully at a work of art through facilitated exploration. Then, they will breathe, stretch, and flow through a guided mindful movement. This month’s theme is “Autumn Leaves: Let Go and Change.”
These sessions are perfect for families, homeschool groups, virtual schools, and teachers who may want to review a recording with their students after the live session. Everyone who registers gets a link to the recording. Each session includes American Sign Language interpretation. Sessions take place on Fridays from 1 to 1:30 p.m. We present these webinars in partnership with Create Calm. Sakai Oho (1808–1841); Japanese Maple and Autumn Plants (detail); Japan, early 19th century; ink and color on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1976.10a–h.
Event Location: Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wNK3zBe8TsKlNHPLofHULw. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wNK3zBe8TsKlNHPLofHULw. Categories: Kids & Families. Webcasts & Online. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program.
Friday, October 2, 2026, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 2, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Highlights Tour in Mandarin 館藏精華導覽
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join free walk-in tours in Mandarin. These one-hour, docent-led tours feature highlights from the museum’s collections, including the famous Peacock Room and select masterpieces of Chinese art. Each tour is unique, so you can learn something new every time. No registration is needed.
國立亞洲藝術博物館邀請您參加免費普通話導覽（無需預約）
在一小時的導覽中，我們的講解員將帶您聚焦博物館中的精華，包括舉世聞名的孔雀廳和精選的中國藝術品。每場導覽都是獨一無二的，讓您每次對藝術品都能有不同的了解。 Image credit: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1915.103a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art) information desk 西樓（佛利爾美術館）咨詢臺. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. From the Louvre | Opening Lecture with Souraya Noujaim
Lectures & Discussions
Register to Attend In-person, Register to Watch the Livestream
The Musée du Louvre’s Islamic Art Department was established in 2003 and holds over 18,000 objects. In this talk, department director Souraya Noujaim presents some of the masterpieces that could not make the journey to Washington for the exhibition From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. She shares their fascinating story and delves into their journey to the Louvre. Noujaim also focuses on individuals, curators, and donors who helped shape the collections through the present day. Following the lecture, she discusses the exhibition with co-curator Simon Rettig.
This program is made possible with generous support from Villa Albertine.
, Dr. Souraya Noujaim has been the Director of the Department of Islamic Arts at the Musée du Louvre in Paris since 2023. In this capacity, she is responsible for the museum’s curatorial strategy and the ongoing development of its collections, with a focus on engaging a broad and diverse audience. Dr. Noujaim…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium and Livestreamed. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Categories: Webcasts & Online. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Captioning. Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Sketch & Discover Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join docent Sushmita Mazumdar every first Sunday of the month as she guides you to use pencil and paper to consider the unique ideas and expressions of Asian artists from various traditions spanning the continent across centuries. All materials will be provided. No reservation needed.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 4, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 4, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 4, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Destiny
Films
Live accompaniment by Kamyar Arsani with Kajwan Ziaoddini and Maya Renfro.
Watch the Trailer
This “bizarre and captivating . . . eerie dream of longing and fear” (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian) was hailed by film scholar Tom Gunning as “one of the most perfectly crafted films of the Weimar cinema.” Fritz Lang’s silent-era masterpiece uses the nesting stories structure of The Thousand and One Nights and includes a section inspired by its tales.
In Destiny, Death comes to a small German town in the figure of a mysterious stranger who builds an enormous walled garden for keeping souls. After spiriting away a young woman’s fiancé Death offers her a deal: if she can save her lover’s life in three alternate realities—ancient Persia, Renaissance Venice, and ancient China, he will return him to the living.
Kamyar Arsani, a scholar of the daf (the Iranian frame drum) is an Iranian multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Through his solo work and numerous collaborations, Arsani creates music across an array…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://1001nights.eventive.org/films. Categories: Films. Performances. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Captioning. Assisted listening devices.
Sunday, October 4, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 4, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 5, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 5, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Sneak Peek | Saodat Ismailova and Marianne Kamp in Conversation
Lectures & Discussions
Saodat Ismailova’s films weave together archival materials and her own footage to explore Central Asia’s layered histories and landscapes, from the region’s ancient past and Islamic traditions through the Soviet era and into the present. In this online program, Ismailova considers these subjects in conversation with Dr. Marianne Kamp, whose landmark studies of Uzbek social transformation have explored the lives of women and youth amid Soviet-era modernization and unveiling.
Together, their reflections invite us to consider how personal memory, oral history, and historical archives can illuminate the political, social, and environmental changes that have shaped Central Asia. Born in Uzbekistan in 1981, Saodat Ismailova is an Uzbek filmmaker and artist living and working between Paris and Tashkent. She graduated from the Tashkent State Art Institute and Le Fresnoy—National Studio of Contemporary Arts in France. In 2021, she initiated Davra, a research collective dedicated to developing the Central Asian art…
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HXCv1E-OT5-c4eKySE56Dg#/registration. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: Saodat Ismailova: Melted into the Sun. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Virtual Tour | Ghosts and Demons
Gallery Talks & Tours
How does art communicate how we imagine the supernatural? In this tour, you’ll meet scary ghosts, powerful demons, and comical monsters in works of art from Japan. Learn about theatrical plays and folktales that feature these supernatural beings and the heroes, guardians, and everyday people they menace. Image: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 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.
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NtAUtMj_ROSJWBrzq63O_w. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Curator Tour | Museum in the Making
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join curator Diana Greenwold for an exclusive tour of A Museum in the Making, an exhibition that 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. Image credit: 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.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Gallery 8. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/curator-tour-museum-in-the-making-tickets-1994681524134?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: A Museum in the Making. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 8, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 8, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. LEENALCHI
Performances
Seating is limited. Reserve your seat in advance to pick where you sit ($6 fee per seat). Join the standby line for remaining seats on the day of the concert, free of charge.
Leenalchi is a seven-piece band from Seoul that draws on the folk storytelling tradition of pansori and will remind you of Talking Heads. After releasing their most recent album, Here Comes That Crow, and supporting Japanese Breakfast, the band will perform in the Meyer Auditorium as part of their first-ever North American tour.
About Pansori
The music of Leenalchi is taken from pansori, a traditional Korean style of musical storytelling often compared to opera. Rooted in shamanism and developed in the seventeenth century during the Joseon dynasty, pansori tells epic tales of love, virtue, sorrow, and dragon kings.
As part of their training, pansori singers are required to spend time singing next to a waterfall, tasked to carefully observe and mimic the sonic nuances of water. The Korean language is full of onomatopoeias. The…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: $6 per seat. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/leenalchi-tickets-1997897645640?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Performances. After Five. Related Exhibition: Do Ho Suh: Public Figures, Rediscovering Korea’s Past.
Thursday, October 8, 2026, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 9, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, October 9, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 9, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 10, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 10, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Curator Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
For the first time ever, an exceptional selection of masterpieces is crossing the Atlantic and coming to the United States. In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area that extends from Spain to India. In these exclusive tours, curator Simon Rettig shares the extraordinary journeys these works took and explains how they were invested with power and meaning along the way.
Please meet at gallery 23 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance. ©️ GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Mathieu Rabeau.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Gallery 23 & 24. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1992430550411?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 10, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 10, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 11, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 11, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 11, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 12, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 12, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. HasSak Ethno-Folk Ensemble
Performances
Seating is limited. Reserve your seat in advance to pick where you sit ($6 fee per seat). Join the standby line for remaining seats on the day of the concert, free of charge.
Formed in 2013 in Almaty by PhD and Honored Worker of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Zhamenkeyev, HasSak 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, including the dombyra, zhetygen, sybyzgy, and kyl-qobyz.
Known for bridging ancient Nomadic musical heritage with dynamic, modern arrangements, HasSak won the Grand Prix at the international World Folk Vision competition in 2019. The group has released three studio albums, with a fourth currently in production, and has performed extensively across Kazakhstan and internationally in countries such as Germany, Austria, Türkiye, China, South Korea, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Image provided by…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hassak-ethno-folk-ensemble-tickets-1998266523965?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true. Categories: Performances. After Five. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. The Burmese Harp (70th Anniversary)
Films
In the last days of World War II, a Japanese platoon sustains morale through the Burma Campaign by singing traditional songs, accompanied by the delicate harp-playing of Private Mizushima (Shōji Yasui). After the unit surrenders to British forces, Mizushima must convince a holdout of cave-dwelling Japanese soldiers to lay down their arms. When his mission fails, he is counted among the dead.
Mizushima survives, however, and becomes a monk who dedicates his life to providing proper burials for his fallen comrades. Meanwhile, his former platoon attempts to track him down by using music to express a shared sense of separation and longing for home.
The Burmese Harp is adapted from Michio Takeyama’s classic novel and renowned for legendary composer Akira Ifukube’s haunting score. This epic humanist masterpiece contemplates suffering, redemption, and spiritual fortitude during the darkest periods of violence. Description adapted from Janus Films.
Director: Kon Ichikawa. Country: Japan. Released: 1956. Length:…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://nmaamatinees.eventive.org/schedule/6a16066bbc7693df3cfd58c6. Categories: Films. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices. Captioning.
Wednesday, October 14, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Peacock Room Shutters Open
Third Thursday of every month.
Free, no registration required.
See the Peacock Room in a whole new light! Please join us for a beloved NMAA tradition: our third Thursday opening of the Peacock Room shutters. Experience this unique masterwork of art and design in a whole new way as natural light reveals details of James McNeill Whistler's painted interior and accents the gleaming surfaces of Charles Lang Freer's collection of Asian ceramics.
The shutters are open from noon to 5:30 p.m. every third Thursday of each month.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Freer gallery 12 (Peacock Room). Cost: Free. Categories: Demonstrations. Gallery Talks & Tours.
Thursday, October 15, 2026, 12:00 PM – 5:30 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 15, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 15, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 15, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 16, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, October 16, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 16, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 16, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Center Stage
Films
Director’s Cut, 35th Anniversary screening, in 4K Restoration!
Watch the Trailer
International superstar Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love) embodies tragic screen siren Ruan Lingyu in this unconventional biopic by Hong Kong New Wave master Stanley Kwan (Rouge). Known as the “Greta Garbo of China,“ Ruan was praised for her moving and emotive onscreen presence. But Ruan’s private life began to mirror the melodramas that brought her fame and was frequent fodder for the vicious Shanghai tabloids. This tumult culminated in her suicide at age 24.
Kwan and Cheung paint a kaleidoscopic yet intimate portrait of the ill-fated actress, deftly blending lush period drama, archival footage, and metatextual documentary sequences of Cheung reflecting on Ruan’s legacy. The result is, much like the films of Ruan Lingyu themselves, “tender, vivid and almost overwhelmingly moving” (Time Out). Description adapted from Film Movement.
Director: Stanley Kwan (Hong Kong). Released: 1991. Length: 154 min. Format: DCP. Language:…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://chinaclassics.eventive.org/films. Categories: Films. After Five. Accessibility: Captioning. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 16, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:30 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Curator Tour | Melted into the Sun
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join curator Carol Huh for a tour of Saodat Ismailova: Melted into the Sun. This exhibition presents film and installation artist Saodat Ismailova’s work, grounded in Central Asia’s complex histories and ancient myths. Weaving together her own footage, rare archival film, and text, she evokes a vivid sense of place and reflects on the resilience of culture.
Please meet at gallery 28 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance. Image: Saodat Ismailova (b. 1981); Still from Melted into the Sun; 2024; single-channel video with sound; 35 minutes; Courtesy @saodatismailova. Commissioned by Fondazione In Between Art Film and Batalha Centro de Cinema Porto.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Gallery 28. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1998887427103?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Saodat Ismailova: Melted into the Sun. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 17, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Highlights Tour in Mandarin 館藏精華導覽
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join free walk-in tours in Mandarin. These one-hour, docent-led tours feature highlights from the museum’s collections, including the famous Peacock Room and select masterpieces of Chinese art. Each docent chooses an artwork to present in their own way, so you can learn something new every time. No registration is needed.
國立亞洲藝術博物館邀請您參加免費普通話導覽（無需預約）
在一小時的導覽中，我們的講解員將帶您聚焦博物館中的精華，包括舉世聞名的孔雀廳和精選的中國藝術品。每場導覽都是獨一無二的，讓您每次對藝術品都能有不同的了解。 Image credit: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1915.103a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: West Building (Freer Gallery of Art) information desk 西樓（佛利爾美術館）咨詢臺. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours.
Sunday, October 18, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 18, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 18, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Farewell My Concubine
Films
Uncut 4K restoration including 20 minutes missing from the original US release!
Watch the Trailer
Preceded by a live performance of the sword dance and suicide by Lady Yuji from the Peking opera Farewell My Concubine, presented by DC Beauty of Beijing Opera.
Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi) grow up enduring the harsh training of the Peking Opera Academy, where instructors regularly beat the students to instill in them the discipline needed to master the complex physical and vocal techniques of this ancient art. As the two boys mature, they develop complementary talents: Dieyi, with his fine, delicate features, assumes the female roles while Xiaolou plays masculine warlords. Their dramatic identities become real for Dieyi when he falls in love with Xiaolou, who fails to fully reciprocate his affections and marries a courtesan, Juxian (Gong Li), creating a dangerous, jealousy-filled romantic triangle.
Hailed as a “cultural achievement” (The New York Times) and widely considered…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://chinaclassics.eventive.org/films. Categories: Films. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Captioning. Assisted listening devices.
Sunday, October 18, 2026, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 18, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 18, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 19, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 19, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Virtual Tour | Ghosts and Demons
Gallery Talks & Tours
How does art communicate how we imagine the supernatural? In this tour, you’ll meet scary ghosts, powerful demons, and comical monsters in works of art from Japan. Learn about theatrical plays and folktales that feature these supernatural beings and the heroes, guardians, and everyday people they menace. Image: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 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.
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UG0wGk-HQiOSd2YlJaNvcQ. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 22, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 22, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 22, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
The Peacock Room at 150: Lecture and Reception
Lectures & Discussions
Join the Freer Research Center as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of James McNeill Whistler’s most complete Aesthetic-era interior, the Peacock Room. Hear from noted Whistler scholar and former National Museum of Asian Art curator Linda Merrill about the context of the room’s creation. She also discusses some of the art-historical misinterpretations that prevailed before the comprehensive conservation campaign of the 1990s. The program will be followed by a celebratory reception in the courtyard.
The Peacock Room is as awe inspiring for its rich detail as it is notorious for the rupture the project caused between the artist and his patron. Whistler designed the space for shipping magnate Frederick Leyland between 1876 and 1877. Leyland expected a few modest alterations to his new dining room, where he intended to display his collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. The room Whistler ultimately completed, mostly without his patron’s consent, was a lavish space covered floor to ceiling in depictions…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Courtyard, Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-peacock-room-at-150-lecture-and-reception-tickets-2000233342773. Categories: After Five. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 22, 2026, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 23, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, October 23, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 23, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 23, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Conservation Cart Talk | Peacock Room Ceramics
Lectures & Discussions
Join objects conservator Ellen Chase to explore the blue-and-white ceramics displayed in the Peacock Room. Learn how artists in China used cobalt pigments and brushes to create their distinctive designs, and discover how conservators study, care for, and preserve them. Examine a replica ceramic and conservation materials up close while gaining a deeper understanding of these works of art. Image: National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Colleen Dugan.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Gallery 12. Cost: Free. Register in advance (optional). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1999025752839?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: The Peacock Room. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Friday, October 23, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Films
100th Anniversary Screening! Live accompaniment by Rahim AlHaj
Watch the Trailer
Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 adaptation of tales from The Thousand and One Nights is widely believed to be the very first animated feature film. The Adventures of Prince Achmed uses striking silhouette cutouts inspired by traditional Indonesian wayang shadow puppets and gorgeous color tinting. These methods bring to life the story of an Arabian prince who is whisked away on a flying horse to an enchanted land where he tangles with an evil sorcerer, rescues a princess, and joins forces with none other than Aladdin. Painstakingly composed frame by frame over the course of three years by Reiniger, this landmark work is both an enchanting storybook saga and a retina-delighting triumph of visual imagination. Description adapted from the Criterion Collection.
Presented in a digital restoration by DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum e.V.
Director: Lotte Reiniger. Country: Germany. Released: 1926. Length: 65 min. Format: Restored DCP.…
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://1001nights.eventive.org/films. Categories: Films. After Five. Performances. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Captioning. Assisted listening devices.
Friday, October 23, 2026, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM.
Art & Me | Family Workshop: Outdoor Sculpture
Kids and Family
What happens to art that lives outside? In this hands-on workshop, children ages 3–8 and their caregivers explore outdoor sculptures at the museum and learn how conservators care for artworks exposed to sun, rain, and more. Then, kids make their own outdoor art and take it home to observe how it stands up to the elements. Image credit: Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended)
This event has been postponed from July 18 to October 24.
A new registration link will be added one month in advance. Categories: Workshops. Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Art & Me | Family Workshop: Outdoor Sculpture
Kids and Family
This event has been postponed from July 18 to October 24. A new registration link will be added one month in advance.
What happens to art that lives outside? In this hands-on workshop, children ages 3–8 and their caregivers explore outdoor sculptures at the museum and learn how conservators care for artworks exposed to sun, rain, and more. Then, kids make their own outdoor art and take it home to observe how it stands up to the elements. Image credit: Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: ImaginAsia Studio. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-me-family-workshop-outdoor-sculpture-tickets-1918232217199?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Workshops. Kids & Families. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Assisted listening devices.
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 25, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 25, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 25, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, October 25, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 26, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, October 26, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Virtual Book Club | Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Lectures & Discussions
Register to join. Halloween costumes welcome~
Calling all readers! We’re starting a quarterly virtual book club, hosted by NPR’s Emily Kwong. You may recognize her from the hit podcast Inheriting about AAPI family history. Our club will meet once each season, with fresh recommendations from some of our favorite Asian-owned bookstores (including Loyalty Bookstore and Yu & Me Books).
Expect: open-ended questions, organic conversation, and a structured activity.
To kick off the club, our first book is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. Grab a copy from the museum store on your next visit. About Martyr!
A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Electrifying, funny, and wholly original, Kaveh Akbar’s debut novel is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves, others. Martyr! is a New York…
Event Location: Online. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/-aNMzt2QS8eO8K6Fh7Uocw#/registration. Categories: Lectures & Discussions. Webcasts & Online. After Five.
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 30, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, October 30, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 30, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, October 30, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Halloween Screening: Train to Busan
Films
10th Anniversary Remastered Version!
Zombie Costumes Welcome!
Watch the Trailer
Yeon Sang-ho’s global phenomenon Train to Busan arrives back in theaters to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. What begins as a simple birthday trip for a father and daughter turns into a high-octane fight for survival when a zombie outbreak ravages South Korea. Trapped on a speeding train, they must navigate a landscape of terror to reach safety. Experience the relentless action and heart-wrenching drama on the big screen like never before.
Director: Yeon Sang-ho. Country: Korea. Released: 2016. Length: 128 min. Format: DCP. Language: Korean with English subtitles. Image courtesy of Well Go USA.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meyer Auditorium. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-screening-train-to-busan-tickets-2000509312205?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true. Categories: Films. After Five. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. Captioning. Assisted listening devices.
Friday, October 30, 2026, 7:00 PM – 9:15 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 31, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 31, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Curator Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
For the first time ever, an exceptional selection of masterpieces is crossing the Atlantic and coming to the United States. In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area that extends from Spain to India. In these exclusive tours, curator Simon Rettig shares the extraordinary journeys these works took and explains how they were invested with power and meaning along the way.
Please meet at gallery 23 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance. ©️ GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Mathieu Rabeau.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Gallery 23 & 24. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1992443921404?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 31, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 31, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Saturday, October 31, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Sketch & Discover Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
Join docent Sushmita Mazumdar every first Sunday of the month as she guides you to use pencil and paper to consider the unique ideas and expressions of Asian artists from various traditions spanning the continent across centuries. All materials will be provided. No reservation needed.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 1, 2026, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 1, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 1, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 1, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Sunday, November 1, 2026, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, November 2, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Monday, November 2, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Virtual Tour | Art of South Asia
Gallery Talks & Tours
Encounter South Asian art from across the Indian subcontinent in this free, online tour. Journey through time, from historical sculptures to contemporary art and photography. This tour highlights both the diversity and unity of South Asian art, and it brings together works from the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Image: Krishna Entertains His Companions; India, Himachal Pradesh state, Guler or Chamba, ca. 1760–1765; 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, S2018.1.8.
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1XcV5JccQ_eOqyJjgd7MRQ. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of Japan
Gallery Talks & Tours
As the seasons change, enjoy a free, hour-long guided tour of the museum’s renowned collection of Japanese art. Experience a variety of artworks, including paintings, prints, screens, ceramics, metalwork, and more. Trees, Master of I-nen Seal (1600–1630), Japan, mid-17th century, ink, color, and gold on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1962.30.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: Japanese Art from the Collection , Knotted Clay: Raku Ceramics and Tea , The Print Generation , The Peacock Room , Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, November 5, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, November 5, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Thursday, November 5, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.
Tours | Arts of China
Gallery Talks & Tours
Examine the diverse artistic and cultural traditions of one of the world’s oldest civilizations in this in-person, docent-led tour. Learn about Chinese artworks such as ritual bronze vessels, calligraphy, brush paintings in ink and color, and exquisite ceramics.
Please meet at the West Building Information Desk for the tour. Dish with foliate flaring rim; Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426–35; Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze; H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1951.13a-b.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, November 6, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
Meditation and Mindfulness
Workshops
Register to join the sessions.
Join a free online guided meditation. In these 30-minute sessions, DC-based meditation teachers lead a variety of mindfulness practices. Friday sessions take inspiration from art in our museum’s collections.
All are welcome! No previous experience is required. Image credit: Taki Katei / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Gift of Toshio and Yuka Fujikura in memory of Tome Fujikura, F2014.8.28a-d.
Event Location: Online. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Cost: Free; registration required. Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/meeting/register/ginJalQ2SrujYkg4lbl2ZA. Categories: Workshops. Webcasts & Online. Related Events: Meditation and Mindfulness (Online).
Friday, November 6, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Artful Movement | SEL Webinar for Students K–3
Kids and Family
Get ready to observe, chat, and move with art! In these webinars, students (grades K–3) will look carefully at a work of art through facilitated exploration. Then, they will breathe, stretch, and flow through a guided mindful movement. This month’s theme is “Mountain Strong: Steady and Grounded.”
These sessions are perfect for families, homeschool groups, virtual schools, and teachers who may want to review a recording with their students after the live session. Everyone who registers gets a link to the recording. Each session includes American Sign Language interpretation. Sessions take place on Fridays from 1 to 1:30 p.m. We present these webinars in partnership with Create Calm. Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (1797–1858); No. 14 Hara: View of Fuji and the Ashitaka Mountains, from the series Pictures of Famous Places of the Fifty-Three Stations (detail); Japan, 1855, 7th month; ink and color on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Study Collection, Gift of Victor and Takako Hauge, …
Event Location: Zoom. Online Link: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p2Y4aTSfRMOPnZ9b0h3lAQ. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p2Y4aTSfRMOPnZ9b0h3lAQ. Categories: Kids & Families. Webcasts & Online. Accessibility: ASL-interpreted program.
Friday, November 6, 2026, 1:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Permanent Collection Tour
Gallery Talks & Tours
The National Museum of Asian Art has over 46,000 artworks from across Asia. Enjoy some of the finest on a docent-led tour and learn about commonalities and differences in cultures, aesthetics, and ideas.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Meet at Information Desk. Cost: Free. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, November 6, 2026, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
For more info visit asia.si.edu. Tour | From the Louvre
Gallery Talks & Tours
In From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art, you can admire remarkable artworks created between the seventh and nineteenth centuries from a vast geographic area extending from Spain to India. This tour guides you through the exceptional selection of masterpieces, including a striking Syrian-Egyptian basin inlaid with silver figures, an enigmatic Andalusian bronze lion, and a monumental portrait of a Persian king covered with jewels. Meanwhile, learn about the extraordinary journeys these works took and how they were invested with power and new meaning along the way. Image: Signed by Muhammad ibn al-Zayd; Basin, Known as the “Baptistery of Saint Louis”; Syria or Egypt, Mamluk dynasty, ca. 1330–1340; engraved and inlaid copper alloy, gold, silver, black compound; coats of arms of the House of France, Paris, 1821; entered the Louvre in 1793; Paris, Musée du Louvre, Islamic Art Department, LP 16; ©️ 2009 Musée du Louvre, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Hughes Dubois.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: East Building. Event Location: Meet in the B1/S1 Lobby. Cost: Free. No registration or tickets (walk-up only). Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Related Exhibition: From the Louvre: Masterpieces of Islamic Art. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, November 6, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM.