Asian Bronze: 4000 Years of Beauty at Rijksmuseum
Asian Bronze
4000 Years of Beauty
September 27, 2024 — January 12, 2025
From Shiva and the Buddha to wine casks and weapons. Everything about bronze triggers your senses. For centuries, this material has played a central role in the traditions of Asia. Now you too can experience the beauty of bronze art at last.
EXPERIENCE BRONZE
Describing bronze art as merely ‘beautiful’ does not do it full justice. Bronze is so much more than a visual experience. What does bronze sound like, for instance? Come and immerse yourself in the magic of these shimmering metal objects, the almost 75 tangible memories of the cultures that produced them.
RICH IMPRESSION
This exhibition is a unique celebration of 4000 years of Asian bronze, with masterpieces from India , China, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal and Korea . Ranging from prehistoric objects to contemporary artworks, and from everyday items to depictions of gods, each one is a display of astonishing skill and dazzling imagination.
LOANED WORKS
Many of the objects in this exhibition have been loaned by other museums, both Western and Asian. One of the six works loaned by the National Museum in Bangkok is Buddha Protected by the Naga , which is leaving Thailand for the first time. Other loaned works have come from Indonesia (Sonobudoyo Museum, Yogyakarta), India (Bihar Museum, Patna) and Pakistan (National Museum, Karachi).
DESIGN
Dutch designer Aldo Bakker designed the exhibition. Irma Boom is responsible for the graphic design.
MORE
The exhibition is accompanied by a book written by the exhibition’s curators, titled Asian Bronze. 4000 Years of Beauty. We are also holding a symposium on Asian bronze on 9 and 10 January 2025.
Asian Bronze. 4000 Years of Beauty has come about thanks to the indispensable support of the Bagri Foundation, the Flora Fund/Rijksmuseum Fund, Rijksmuseum Friends and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
