The National Gallery of Australia holds the nation’s most important and comprehensive collection of Asian art. Diverse cultures, religions and histories of Asia are represented through works of art which date from ancient times to the contemporary. Sculptures, textiles, paintings, prints and manuscripts, all of exceptional quality, are displayed in three main spaces dedicated to Art of the Indian subcontinent , Art of Southeast Asia and Contemporary Asia. In each, visitors are introduced to the rich traditions and major themes of Asian art.
Fine Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Islamic, animist and Christian sculpture, including masterpiecesfrom India, Southeast Asia and Japan, are a particular strength of the national collection. On display are images of Buddha, saints and saviours, Hindu gods and goddesses, ancestor figures, celestial beings, mythical and real creatures, and decorative and symbolic designs. The Gallery is well known for its spectacular collection of South and Southeast Asian textiles, particularly from Indonesia. Created using time-honoured techniques, their rich designs display complex motifs associated with ancestors, fertility, social status and fabulous wealth. Many heirloom cloths demonstrate the importance of textiles in historical maritime trade.
Other treasures include elegant Japanese six-fold screens, shrine hangings [pichhavai] celebrating India’s popular blue god Krishna, vibrant costumes from Central Asia, Chinese funerary ceramics, colourful Indian miniature paintings, a small group of fine Balinese illustrated manuscripts, significant ukiyo-e prints from the Edo and early Meiji periods of Japan, a rare collection of 20th-century Chinese woodcuts and fine photography. Works of art by prominent contemporary Asian artists add further depth to the National Gallery of Australia’s remarkable collection.
Since paintings, textiles, prints and photographs are exhibited for short periods of time due to fragility and light sensitivity, viewings of works in storage can be organised in the Gallery’s Collection Study Room.