MIA Affinity Groups are a great way for museum members to connect more closely with special areas of art interest. more »

Enthusiast ($100 per year/household/Affinity Group): Provides admission to three annual programs (e.g., lectures and gallery tours), e-newsletters, with insider information from the curatorial department(s) of your choice.

Collector ($1,000 per year/household/Affinity Group): Provides all the above, plus invitations to annual events with curators, dealers, and visiting scholars, travel opportunities, and other curator-developed programs focused around collecting in the curatorial department(s) of your choice.

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The MIA’s renowned collection of Asian art represents 17 cultures spanning nearly 5,000 years. Best known for the size and quality of its Chinese and Japanese collections, it also has important examples of Indian, Southeast Asian, Korean, Himalayan, and Islamic art. The museum acquired its first Asian objects several years before it formally opened in 1915, and it has continued to build its diverse Asian collections—through acquisitions and gifts—ever since. Founded in 1977, the Department of Asian Art now oversees over 12,000 objects, including sculptures, paintings, ceramics, furniture, lacquers, jades, and woodblock prints. Its recent acquisition of a 17th century suit of armor (left) owned by a Japanese warlord made worldwide news.

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Thinking Globally: Exploring the MIA's Indian and Southeast Asian Art Collection

Pillsbury Auditorium

Presenter: Risha Lee, the MIA's Jane Emison Assistant Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art.

The MIA's Indian and Southeast Asian art collection contains many gems of art, produced in a variety of times and places. In an introduction to the collection, Risha Lee will explore some of the themes and concepts that tie these objects together, as well as their interwoven and global histories. Collectively, they point to the rich diversity of artistic traditions that comprise India and Southeast Asia.

$10; $5 for MIA members; free for members of the Asian Art Affinity Group. To reserve tickets, call (612) 870-6323 or reserve tickets online »