“Asia” is a term invented by the Greeks and Romans, and developed by Western geographers to indicate the land mass east of the Ural Mountains and Ural River, together with offshore islands such as Japan and Java.

Islam is one of the world’s major religions. It shares with Judaism and Christianity a belief in a single god. The Arabic name for God is Allah. The word Islam means “surrender (to God).” The followers of Islam are called Muslims, which in Arabic means “one who surrenders to God.”

Over the centuries, two main branches of Buddhism emerged: a transmission that traveled to Southeast Asia, and a transmission that evolved in East Asia. A further offshoot of the northern transmission also developed. All three branches began in India, and developed further as they moved across Asia.

The term for puppetry, wayang, comes from the Indonesian word for shadow bayang. Wayang kulit, shadow puppetry using figures made from water buffalo hide, is considered to be the oldest freestanding puppet form; the earliest references to it date from the 800s.

The primary goal of the Conservation department at the Asian Art Museum is to preserve the museum’s collection for future generations. This goal is achieved through a number of activities including controlling the surrounding environment, performing conservation treatment, and researching fabrication methods and deterioration processes.

The Southeast Asian country of Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 tropical and volcanic islands that straddle the equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans.

The dalang (puppet master) is a master musician, an epic storyteller, a dancer of dolls, a comic wonder, a deep philosopher, and a political pundit all rolled into one; some dalangs have the power to do exorcisms and other traditional ceremonies. In essence, a conduit of the knowledge embedded in the traditional epics of wayang (puppet theater), the dalang connects the community with its cultural history and with the spirit world.

When we consider acquiring an object for the Asian Art Museum’s collection, our first step is to focus a trained eye on it...

The figures of wayang golek can be divided into five main character types: refined, semirefined, strong, emotionally uncontrolled, and special. A character type is indicated through the facial features and shape of the body.

Learn about the basic beliefs of Hinduism.

Hachiman is one of the most important deities in Shinto tradition. He serves as a protector of the nation and a sort of patron saint of warriors. He is the deified spirit of the legendary Emperor Ojin, who is supposed to have lived some sixteen hundred years ago.

There are many Hindu deities, some with great and others with limited powers. Learn more.

As long as people have valued art there has been incentive to make copies, imitations and fakes...