The Museum of Fine Arts Houston collections of Asian art span nearly five millennia and encompass the cultures of China, the Himalayas, India, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

In 2007, the Museum launched an initiative to create dedicated galleries for the collection, beginning with a gallery for the arts of Korea. Galleries for the arts of India, China, and Japan followed in 2009, 2010, and 2012 respectively. The novel installation of ancient, modern, and contemporary objects in the same room has engaged visitors in a dialogue that conveys transnational and global narratives within the ancient and modern worlds.

The collecting department illuminates the specificity and diversity of form, iconography, and techniques in the Asian continent that result from local and global transmission of ideas, religion, and philosophies such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Taoism.

Dr. Bradley Bailey is Curator of Asian Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.