Department of Asia
Contact details
Email: asia@britishmuseum.org
Phone: +44 (0)20 7323 8416
Department of Asia
The British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
The Department of Asia covers the material and visual cultures of Asia – a vast area covering central, east, south and southeast Asia, and Siberia.
The collection has been enriched by Buddhist paintings from the Dunhuang caves in Central Asia and the Admonitions of the Court Instructress painting, plus one of the best collections of Chinese ceramics in the world. The Japanese collection has outstanding holdings of early modern paintings, woodblock prints and decorative arts, as well as important works of earlier periods and a strong representation of 20th-century graphic art. Our extensive Korean collection highlights fine ceramics, Goryeo lacquer and metalwork, and Joseon paintings.
Our South Asian collections include the celebrated limestone Buddhist reliefs from Amaravati, seals from the Indus civilisation, superb south Indian sculptures of Shiva and one of the finest statues of the goddess Tara from Sri Lanka. Paintings and objects from the courts of the Mughal emperors can be seen alongside 20th-century paintings, including by the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
The Southeast Asian collections are extraordinarily rich, covering the numerous cultures of the region. The objects range from Hindu and Buddhist sculpture, coins, lacquer, and Thai banner paintings to the material culture of the Dayak people on Borneo and exquisite Javanese theatrical objects.
Staff
- Rosina Buckland – Asahi Shimbun Curator: Japanese Collections
- Tim Clark – Honorary Research Fellow
- Alexandra Green – S P Shaw Curator: Southeast Asian Collections
- Alfred Haft – JTI Project Curator: Japanese Collections
- Jessica Harrison-Hall – Curator: Chinese Ceramics and Vietnam
- Sushma Jansari – Tabor Foundation Curator: Early South Asia
- Sang-ah Kim – Curator: Korean Collections
- Ruiliang Liu – Curator: Early China Collections
- Yu-Ping Luk – Basil Gray Curator: Chinese Paintings Prints and Central Asia
- Jane Portal – Keeper: Department of Asia with speciality in China and Korea
- Imma Ramos – Curator: South Asia
- Sophie Sorrondegui – Project Curator: Documentation
- Wenyuan Xin – Project Curator: Documentation
- Mei Xin Wang – Resource Specialist: China
- Akiko Yano – Mitsubishi Corporation Curator: Japanese Collections
- The work of the department is supported by a team of Collections Managers and administrative staff.
You can search for publications by specific staff members on the British Museum Research Repository.
Research
Research at the Museum drives the care, display and understanding of the collection. Our research creates new knowledge, often through collaboration and by using cutting edge technology. Research projects, studentships and other activities cover a wide variety of academic disciplines and can involve archaeological excavation, studies of museum collections, working with craftspeople, understanding our visitors, conservation and scientific investigations.
Research in the Department of Asia focuses on the study of objects in the collection to extend our understanding of the people, history, art, culture and technology in different areas of Asia. The department's work includes documentation of the collection, exhibitions, excavations and fieldwork, scientific analysis and investigation; conservation; historical subjects; and the interaction of Asia with other cultures.
The Asia collection has been digitised and records of its entire holdings are available to assist external scholars, students and the public with their studies. Staff share the outcomes of their research in exhibitions, popular books, academic monographs, journal articles, blogs, videos and lecture programmes both inside and outside of the Museum.
History of the collection
18th century
1866–1896
1880
1933
2003–2005
Now
