Asia Society and Museum

The exhibition the Kamakura period (1185 – 1333): Kamakura Realm and The Sculpture of Japan have amazing corrections, especially helpful for me, studying and training Esoteric Buddhism lineages to Kukai (thus, strictly no photos sadly). The eyes of the statues were alive, literally. Messages from the artfully and articulately created the naturalistic form of glared eyes by inlaid crystal were amazing and eternal.
Although this exhibition is rather small but definitely worth seeing it, that is if you are interesting in the Kamakura period and Buddhism.

Everyone that works here is so nice. This is an alternative safe peaceful space that I like to visit. They have a very reasonable admission cost. The exhibits are always changing so you never get bored. They have a lovely gift shop and naturally a café!
I come here in memory of my Aunt Doris gone long ago. She grew up on 125^th Street. Her mother was Irish and her Father Chinese. My Aunt taught me a lot. I miss her terribly.
Celebrate your heritage with a visit to the Asia Society. Everyone not Asian come to celebrate with them. Good spirits are here!
:-)

Dropped in for free via Smithsonian Day Live at this great and pretty new spot funded by the Rockefeller fortune. No photos, so try not to capture the Four Seasons or the other cool pieces here when the seemingly invisible staffers are around.

The only place that made me feel like I was entering a culture. People were quiet and respectful and explained where things were located. It is nearly perfect because of the coat checking & kind employees. My only problem was the bathroom was not too clean but it is understandable. Overall the artworks were perfectly secure & held within a clean environment. There were plenty of helpful information pamphlets and most of all no annoying visitors disturbing the peace.

It would depend on the exhibit but I liked the Filipino Gold Exhibit. The had magnifying glasses and a free audio tour (you use your cell phone) which I think made it more interesting than it would have been. They had videos, descriptions for about ¹⁄₃ of the artifacts, and audio guide for about ¹⁄₅. Based on the glasses and that, I would expect that the exhibits are well curated and made more interesting by such additions. I would come back if the topic of the exhibition interested me. There is nothing else to see aside from the exhibit so the $ 10 entry fee seems a little steep.
Great gift shops with good sales. They have a lot of choices – jewelry, clothes/​scarves, housewares and other gifts. It’s ranked as one of the best gift shops in NYC.

Asia Society is a non profit organization promoting all things Asian. I came here one day just to check out their museum collection. It is small and features collections of art from Asian countries that changes periodically. It is not worth a visit just to see the art. However, this place also has musical performances, interviews, and movie screenings. If you go to one of those, then it would nice to check out the art at the same time.

Passed by after walking in Central Park and such an coincidence that it’s free on Friday nights.
2 floors of exhibition. The second floor has Philippine gold exhibition and 3^rd floor has 2 rooms with video.
Honestly I couldn’t understand the videos at all, went away right away. Lol. Apparently I’m not arty enough hahaha

If you’re interested in Asian affairs, cultural events, author meets and insightful political discussions, this is the place to be. You don’t have to be a member to attend these events. Tickets for non members is usually $ 12 (members pay $ 10) and some events are free. Check them out!

The Asia Society is a global not-​for-​profit founded in the 1950’s by John D. Rockefeller to promote ties between the U.S. and Asian nations. It’s NYC building dates from 1980 and includes a book and gift shop and café on the first floor; it has offices and meeting spaces on the floors above and an auditorium below. It is fully accessible.

Sadly under the radar, the Society has a very interesting exhibits of Asian art. Because it is under the radar, it is never crowded and you can view the exhibits with space and leisure.

The Asia Society Museum has some wonderful exhibits. However, the experience is marred by frequent tours. It is a small exhibit space and impossible to escape the loud and highly intrusive nature of these tours. I recommend calling in advance (press O for operator as the long message does not give this option), so you can avoid.

Hoity-​toity place, which you would expect for the Upper East Side.
I recently visited for the Nam June Paik exhibit, which was well curated but not as extensive as I thought it would have been. I would not pay full ticket price to come see it.

Nice place.
1) Come here on a Friday night between 6pm to 8pm, the museum is free. Make sure to get the tours at 630pm.
2) Much of the museum these days are contemporary. I personally like historic and ancient stuff. As such, Rubin Museum is more of my taste.

This review might be premature as I’ve only been to one event here, but, being a Unilocal Elite member and having that Unilocal blood running through me, I still felt the need to voice my thoughts. I’ve been looking forward to checking out the Asia Society for some time, as, since I’m Iranian, I love that they include ALL of Asia, and not just southeast Asia. Anyway, I attended the Iran and US: Where We Stand talk last night and very much enjoyed it. They have an impressive roster of events they’ve held regarding the topic and I wish I’d attended. The place itself is so modern and chic and the check-​in people were lovely. I loved being there and I’m definitely going to return for other talks and exhibits, and bring tons of people with me, too!
My only complaint was that there was a lot of noise on the 8^th floor because of the elevator and the staff moving around while I was at the talk last night.

My fiancé and I came for the Lunar New Year Celebration for the Year of the Horse last Friday, and thought it would be fun to do something different… and we inadvertently crashed a company party; oops!
The space is very modern, with much Asian architectural inspiration. Upon entering, we fell into the gift spot, filled with books, dishes, statues, music, clothing, and much more. Walking deeper into the space, you see glass encased Buddhas and other artifacts. There was a DJ booth set up, and bamboo trees with decorated lights and paper lanterns. There were two stations for ordering food and drinks, which were a little steep, but it was worth just trying. Since we were there for the celebration, we had the opportunity to take museum tours at 6:30 PM or 7:30 PM; really great perk.
A unique place for all things Asian culture; come get educated.

Asia Society also runs events on Friday nights. At theirs, most people don’t even go to the galleries, which are on the second floor. It is more like there is an event at Leo bar (just an open room next to the reception) and they leave the galleries open should you want to have a look or take a break. There is a larger crowd at the Asia Society than at the Rubin.
I used to volunteer here, so I’ve been to many of their events. I helped at films, art events, book signings, and speakers. I also assisted at an annual family day that had activities for kids. They had Malaysian puppets, crafts, and other booths.

Nice place, but not a whole lot to see. «Patronage and Power: Selections from the Asia Society Museum Collection» was a good exhibit with sculptures, pottery, and more from various Asian cultures.

Recent visit for an exhibit currently on view through early June 2013, «The Artful Recluse: Painting, Poetry, and Politics in 17^th Century China» was intriguing. Asia Society serves as an association to strengthen and enhance the Asian community of New York and beyond for Mandarin classes and Chinese calligraphy are offered + museum to the public. Two floors of gallery space with a limited café restaurant and a small gift shop in the lobby which is a nice Sunday afternoon stroll. Admission tickets are your standard museum pin at $ 10.00 per adult. Email newsletters are news worthy for upcoming exhibits notified from Asia Society.

Regardless of your interest or link to Asian culture and politics, The Asia Society and Museum is always worth a gander. This place is more than a museum, it’s a hub of all things Asian, both current and past. There are the historical exhibitions, fundraising and networking events, lectures, in an effort to bridge the gap between the west and east.
$ 10 is all it takes to peruse the place. Often times if there are events being held, they’ll bundle it with donation (to the whatever cause) and will occasionally host monthly cocktail hours. The catering staff, as well as the actual museum folks, are polite and friendly. Beware of the gift shop, the inventory of items from all over Asia can be a bit eye opening, but still nice to see the representation for lesser known communities.
Compared to the mega museums in these parts, Asia Society’s exhibitions will seem relatively tame and small. What they do offer are excellent collections, assembled on niche themes that resonate well with various segments of the museum loving population. I particularly enjoyed Art of Sasanian Iran, Arts from Ancient Vietnam, and more recently the Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi.
Since the Asia Society has locations all over the world, I’d be curious to see how Hong Kong stacks up versus the Texas location. This one here in NYC, is A-​OK by me.

In the heart of ritzy new money New York, lies the Asia Society. The building itself has a lot that could be worked with — the architecture and design somehow manages to incorporate the different aspects of «Asian» that the museum itself tries to fuse together. Clean, modern Japanese influenced spiral staircase at the entrance swirls towards a statue Ganesh while the wood carved entrance to the ginormous gift shop that takes over the lobby ties in another example of what this small museum gathers under the heading of Asian.
While the idea is noble (I enjoyed the small special exhibit of U-​Ram Choe’s installations) and the execution slick, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by what I was being sold in the museum — from the gift shop to the very wide definition of what cultures/​countries were represented. It was too much to be expressed in the limited space.
The Rockefeller collection makes up the permanent collection and this fact was not lost on me. The museum seems to cater to what wealthy Asia-​philes think Asian art should be, without regard for more subtle and perhaps risky artwork that a more nuanced approach would entail.
Two Friday nights of each month, Asia Society’s Leo Bar features exotic cocktails at a cash bar, with free museum admission. Regular admission is $ 10.