Former propaganda poster artist, Ming Ren, explains some of the characteristics of Chinese propaganda posters. The poster's slogan says Down with Capitalists.

A series of lectures on the arts of India.

Learn more about the arts of Korea and Japan through lectures by renowned scholars.

Join the Society for Asian Art as we explore the art of India and the Islamic world. As in past seasons, the Fall 2011 lecture series will feature prominent scholars and curators from across the country and showcase many treasures of the Asian Art Museum. An array of topics will be discussed, including the life and visual representation of the Buddha; Hindu gods and goddesses and the depiction of heavenly bodies; sacred architecture; Hindu epics; the diversity of South Asian religious practice and the rise of Islam across Asia; Mughals, maharajas, and manuscript paintings; and contemporary Indian art. This lecture series coincides with the beginning of a three-year training program for new Asian Art Museum docents.

This lecture series, organized by the Society for Asian Art, explores narrative using Asian art—how myths, legends, histories and moral precepts have been transmitted through visual means. Topics range from sculptural reliefs and murals used to educate pilgrims at famous religious sites to works created primarily for entertainment. Contemporary storytelling is also addressed via lectures on Bollywood and manga produced by San Francisco's Henry Yoshitaka Kiama.

This lecture series examines the origins of traditions and how traditions are renewed, appropriated, and transformed over time.

Audio tour for The demon Maricha tries to Dissuade Ravana, approx. 1780

Utilizing the special exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation as a point of departure, this short, dynamic talk, or Baat Cheet, focuses on California's unique role in the adoption, evolution, and popularization of yoga today. Ann Dyer turned her creative energies to the study and sharing of yoga and music almost twenty years ago, after spending years as a celebrated jazz vocalist. Last year she formed the Vak Project, a creative initiative of presentation and performance, committed to awakening the public's experience of sound and voice. Her most recent venture was a yearlong project commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which gave birth to her seventy-member Vak Choir of "everyday" voices and culminated in the performance of a theatrical work, Vak: Song of Becoming. Ann's recent TED talk, Why Sing? Why Now?, illustrates the connections between sounds in ancient Indian texts and contemporary life. Ann is director of Mountain Yoga in Oakland. 

Utilizing the special exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation as a point of departure, this short, dynamic talk, or Baat Cheet, focuses on California's unique role in the adoption, evolution, and popularization of yoga today. John Parulis has exhibited his artwork at Paradise Ridge Winery and Hammerfriar Gallery in Sonoma County. He has been is a member of Yoga Society of New York since 1985 and studied with Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati from 1973 to 1993. John served as a cameraman for Greenpeace, filming projects at sea to save human and marine life. He currently serves on Marin County environmental action committees and produces and films live events for the radio station KPFA.

Utilizing the special exhibition, Yoga: The Art of Transformation, as a point of departure, this short, dynamic talk, or Baat Cheet, focuses on California's unique role in the adoption, evolution, and popularization of yoga today.

Utilizing the special exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation as a point of departure, this short, dynamic talk, or Baat Cheet, focuses on California's unique role in the adoption, evolution, and popularization of yoga today. Gopi Kallayil is Google's chief evangelist of brand marketing. He works with sales teams and customers to help grow brands through digital marketing. In his prior roles he worked as chief evangelist for Google+, and led the marketing team for the company's flagship advertising product, AdWords, in the Americas and Asia Pacific, as well as the marketing team for AdSense, Google's publisher-facing product. Before joining Google, Gopi was on the management team of two Silicon Valley venture-funded startups. While a consultant with McKinsey & Co., he helped corporations improve business performance and maximize revenues. He has also led IT projects for global corporations in India, China, and the U.S. He is an avid yoga practitioner, triathlete, public speaker, global traveler and Burning Man devotee. He has spoken at TEDx, Renaissance Weekend, The World Peace Festival and Wisdom 2.0.  He hosts a TV program on cable and YouTube called Change Makers.

Utilizing the special exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation as a point of departure, this short, dynamic talk, or Baat Cheet, focuses on California's unique role in the adoption, evolution, and popularization of yoga today. Eric Shaw has spent nearly thirty years practicing Asian traditions, and he is devoted to freshly interpreting them for modern yogis. He is the creator of the Prasana Yoga's Alignment in Movement system and the informational programs of Yoga Education Through Imagery.

Associate Curator of Southeast Asian Art, Natasha Reichle, trains the Asian Art Museum docents on the upcoming Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance exhibition on view at the Asian Art Museum from February 25-September 11, 2011.