Conservation Cart Talk | From Panel to Hanging Scroll
This event has been postponed from July 17 to July 24.
Join Japanese painting conservators to explore the process of converting panel-mounted paintings back into hanging scrolls. Handle a former mounting panel, still layered with fabric, to better understand its structure. Then watch a live demonstration of how the first layer of backing paper is carefully applied to a painting—an essential step in creating a hanging scroll. Learn more by speaking with conservators about their ongoing treatment of paintings by Hishikawa Moroyasu and Katsushika Hokusai.
On our blog, you can learn more about how we mount Japanese paintings. 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 near Gallery 5. Cost: Free. Register in advance (optional). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1991072447288?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Lectures & Discussions. Demonstrations. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, July 24, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Curator Tour | Chinese Arts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Join curator Jan Stuart for an exclusive tour of Chinese calligraphy, porcelains, and paintings, including scrolls illuminating the steps of silk cultivation and tilling rice.
Please meet at gallery 13 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance. Image: Attributed to Cheng Qi (傳)程棨 (act. mid- to late 13th century); Silk Weaving after Lou Shou 摹樓璹〈蠶織圖; China, mid- to late 13th century; ink and color on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1954.20.
Venue: Asian Art Museum. Building: West Building. Event Location: Gallery 13. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1988568831907?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, August 5, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.
AlUla and the Incense Road: An Ancient World in Dialogue
Explore the Arabian region of AlUla through the lens of art history and archaeology in this talk with their storytellers, the Rawis.
Discover how AlUla sat at the heart of a vast network of cultural exchange, where people, objects, artistic traditions, and ideas traveled across continents. Drawing on archaeological discoveries and historical references, this lecture invites audiences to explore a past that is still being uncovered and the global connections that shaped the ancient world. The stories shared here will be the core narratives of AlUla’s future Museum of the Incense Road. Image: UNESCO/Nick Jackson.
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/alula-and-the-incense-road-an-ancient-world-in-dialogue-tickets-1993957185618?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: After Five. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Assisted listening devices. Wheelchair accessible.
Friday, August 7, 2026, 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM.